Kolkata: For the first time in the history of Bengal cricket a tribal boy has been recognised in the squad for a state level team. It is also a dream come true for Satyabrata Murmu too. As a replacement of Wriddhiman Saha, Sreevats Goswami failed to perform for Bengal last season. This made way for Satyabrata to be in the 16 member squad of Dr. K. Thimmappiah Memorial Cricket Tournament this year.
Earlier, Satyabrata got a chance in the CAB XI for the same tournament in 2013-14 season. He could only play two matches then where he scored 62 & 68 respectively. But getting a knee injury in the match against Haryana, forced him out of the tournament. Due to that injury the Jhargram bound cricketer had to spend a long time out of the field.
Getting a chance further in the CAB-XI Satyabrata reacted, “I just want to play. I have learnt so many things from senior pro Wriddhiman. Now I want to deliver that only. I was confident of beating Sreevats as I performed better in the club cricket. Today my parents are very happy”.
Chairman of the selection committee Debang Gandhi described him as a fighter. He said, “Satyabrata has a fighter’s spirit in him. For that reason we gave him a chance. Our main target is to do well in the Ranji trophy. To do well in the Ranji Trophy, the juniors have to take this tournament seriously and perform well to earn a place in the Ranji squad of Bengal.”
Manoj Tewary has been selected further as the captain of the CAB-XI for this DKTMC tournament starting from 22nd July. As he will be not available in the first match, the team will be led by Sudip Chatterjee against KSCA Colts. Spinner Pragyan Ojha will be playing in this tournament. CAB is in search of some very good talented cricketers from these bunch of juniors. So players like Prasenjit Das, Koushik Ghosh, Ritwik Roy Chowdhury, Amit Kuila, Ishan Porel, Agniv Pan are getting a chance to showcase their talent in this tournament. Apart from them, first-class cricketers like Abhimanyu Easwaran and Veer Pratap Singh are also in the squad.
Apart from the announcement of the 16 member squad a pool of six players has been announced as reserves.. All these 22 players will be training under V. V. S. Laxman in Bengaluru from 16 to 21st July ahead of the tournament.
With the announcement of this practice tournament ahead of Ranji Trophy, preparation for CAB election has been on full course. The date for the AGM is decided on 31st July. The last date of filing nomination is 23rd July. On the other hand, the Annual Award Ceremony will also be held on 23rd July.
Now, it is to be seen what strategy treasurer Biswarup Dey is going to take against President Sourav Ganguly. Apart from Biswarup’s dice, the involvement of Chief minister Mamata Banerjee and decision of Lodha Committee will also be key factors for this election.