E-Paper
Ganguly, Dasgupta strengthen Bengal
Bengal coach Paras Mhambrey may be credited for changing the team?s fortunes, so much so that from a disjointed group fighting relegation from the Ranji Trophy Elite Group to a unit which believes that the Trophy itself is just one step away, but the former India cricketer credits his boys for everything.
Bengal coach Paras Mhambrey may be credited for changing the team’s fortunes, so much so that from a disjointed group fighting relegation from the Ranji Trophy Elite Group to a unit which believes that the Trophy itself is just one step away, but the former India cricketer credits his boys for everything.
"If players like Tendulkar, Dravid and Sehwag didn’t back Greg Chappell and started cribbing about his methods, would Greg be able to deliver the results?" he says. Bengal are in the comfort zone in the one-dayers as well. They have won against the two teams that have looked the most impressive here and the way Assam and Orissa have played so far, the difference between the Elite finalists and the Plate group teams have come out in stark contrast. Bengal play their third match of the meet against Assam at the Nehru Stadium, Jealgora, on Friday and with Sourav Ganguly and skipper Deep Dasgupta back, they are favourites.
They, however, need to watch out for Assam's opening pair -- Sujay Tarafdar and Krishna Das -- if they bat first but the wickets here ease out considerably in the second.
"I just know Sarvanan and J Arun Kumar play for Assam. Other than that I do not have much idea of their team," said Mhambrey. Having set very high standards for the Bengal team, Mhambrey is currently reading Out of my Comfort Zone by Steve Waugh. "I have just read Lance Armstrong’s Every Second Counts and I am completely fascinated by it," he says. He is also impressed with the way his boys have responded to his methods.
"I give them 5.5 to 6 on a scale of 10 but my perfect 10 is international standards. I want them to be super fit, like the Aussies. I want the country to recognise Bengal as the best domestic team," he said.
Squad
Bengal: Deep Dasgupta (capt), Subhomoy Das, Arindam Das, Subhojit Pal, Abhishek Jhunjhunwala, Manoj Tewari, Sanjiv Sanyal, Shiv Sagar Singh, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Sourashish Lahiri, Ranadeb Bose, Shib Sankar Paul, Kamal Hassan Mondal.
Assam: Vasant Sarvanan (capt), Chandan Rawat, Parvez Aziz, Jason Lamare, J Arun Kumar, Gokul Sharma, Mriganko Sharma, Mrigen Talukdar, Anand Katti, Arlen Konwar, Sujay Tarafdar, Krishna Das, Mark Intynishant Bordoloi, Sajjad Hussain.
