Kolkata : Bengal perhaps got a huge boost 48 hours ahead of their Ranji Trophy quarter final tie against Madhya Pradesh . Captain Manoj Tiwary is likely to be available for Bengal in the quarter final tie at Brabourne stadium . The Bengal southpaw have been suffering from a calf muscle injury that he sustained during the match against Hyderabad in Syed Mustaq Ali Trophy . He also pulled his hamstring while batting in the same match . Tiwary’s participation in the Ranji quarters was hanging in a balance .
But Bengal coach Sairaj Bahutule sounded confident about Manoj’s availability. “Manoj didn’t look to be in any sort of discomfort. He practiced in full swing. I am hopeful that he will regain his full fitness before the match”.
Generally CCI pitch have a history of favouring the pacers initially . With the likes of Ishwar Pandey, Puneet Datey, Harpreet Singh in the MP team, Bengal batsman would have to be very cautious. Sairaj Bahutule though feel that pitch is not a big factor. “Our batsmen are prepared. There could be some mowing before the match. If we want to defeat MP we have to concentrate on the match and not the pitch”.
Bengal have a poor track record against Madhya Pradesh. In the last 5 years Madhya Pradesh has taken the first innings lead on four occasions. Bengal selection committee chairman Debang Gandhi will join the team tomorrow. CAB president Sourav Ganguly is also scheduled to be present on the second day as he has some personal commitments in Mumbai.
The match will be broadcasted live. Earlier it was decided that the match between Mumbai and Jharkhand would be telecasted. But the match has now moved to Mysore due to the upcoming World T20.
Madhya Pradesh is captained by Devendra Bundela and has a host of talented players including Naman Ojha. “To play the Ranji quarterfinal itself is a big motivation. I don’t want to look into the past . Both the teams are well balanced. It would be a good match” revealed the India player.
Bengal team management is yet to decide whether to go in with two pacer / two spinner combination or to play an extra pacer . The team management is likely to go in with Sayan Sekhar Mondal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Sudip Chatterjee, Manoj Tiwary, Wriddhiman Saha, Sreevats Goswami, Pankaj Shaw, Mukesh Kumar/Aamir Gani, Pragyan Ojha, Veer Pratap Singh and Ashoke Dinda.