Internet Desk: An impressive spell of bowling from debutant Amit Kuila took Bengal to driver’s seat against Punjab in Ranji Trophy Group A clash in Lohnu after Day 2. The 21 year old pacer from Kharagpur took 3/44 to see Punjab struggling on 168/4 at stumps. Punjab still trails by 236 runs with 6 wickets in hand. Bengal finished their first innings on 404 runs.
It has been a dream come true for the lanky pacer who had a quite a struggle getting his first class cap. The son of an employee of a cement factory, Kuila’s father lost his job few years back due to political reasons. But the grit and determination of the rookie pacer landed him a debut for Bengal.
“My father lost his job few years back due to political reasons. It was a struggle for our family as he was the only earning member. But in spite of that my father insisted me to carry on with my game. I gave my entire club cricket earnings to my parents,” said an emotional Kuila to xtratime.in from Bilaspur.
It has been a meteoric rise for Kuila who was sent to the MRF pace foundation after an impressive bowling performance in a U’23 match against Chattisgarh. But an injury to his hip kept him out of cricket for almost a year. But another impressive bowling performance in the KSCA tournament opened his door for Bengal senior team.
Kuila’s maiden wicket in first class cricket came of the first ball he bowled today. He added another two to his tally to end the day at 3/44.
Talking about his performance, he credited his bowling coach Ranadeb Bose for guiding him. “I was a bit nervous when Manoj da gave me the red cherry in the second over of the match. He just told me to bowl straight. Luckily the out swinger kissed the bat of Jiwanjot and carried to Pankaj Shaw fielding in the gully. I am grateful to Ranadeb Sir for working with me at the Vision 20-20 camp since 2014.”
Earlier Bengal finished their first innings on 404 all out. Pankaj Shaw scored a brilliant half century (55) to take the Bengal score past the 400 mark.
Opener Sayan Shekhar Mandal scored a magnificent 135 on Day 1.
Bengal made a perfect start with Kuila giving an early breakthrough. Punjab lost Jiwanjot without any score on the board. Ashoke Dinda got the prized wicket of Yuvraj Singh as he was caught behind for 22 runs. Taruwar Kohli and Uday Kaul are batting on 26* and 73* respectively at Stumps on Day 2.
Brief Scores:
Bengal: 404 all out (Sayan Shekhar Mandal 135; Sandeep Sharma 4 for 96 lead by 236 Punjab : 168 for 4 (Uday Kaul 73*, Taruwar Kohli 26*; Amit Kuila 3 for 44)