Kolkata : Bengal captain Manoj Tiwary blamed the inconsistency in his side for the quarter final exit in Ranji Trophy .
Bengal lost by a massive margin of 355 runs against Madhya Pradesh in the quarter final played at the Brabourne stadium in Mumbai. Captain Manoj Tiwary and Pankaj Shaw cracked individual hundreds, but that was not enough to hide the embarrassment. Manoj scored 124 runs while Pankaj Shaw showed some maturity in scoring 118 runs. Dinda also chipped in with 52 runs as Bengal were bundled out for 432 runs .
According to Manoj ,“ Lack of application from the batsmen added with a poor bowling performance are to be blamed for not making the semis . ” He further added ,“ Lack of consistency have been a big concern right throughout the season . We played well in patches, like as it happened in the quarter finals against Madhya Pradesh . Our batsman did not apply themselves at all in the first innings. ”
The Bengal captain also defended his decision to bowl first winning the toss . Although his decision to field first came in for a lot of criticism “ I think I have taken the right decision to bowl first after winning the toss . As there was enough grass left behind and the condition was damp.”
Bengal coach Sairaj Bahutule, however, believes that the focus should be more on the positives as it was just one bad day that spoiled all the effort. “I think it was just one bad day cost us,” he said from Mumbai after the match.
“We didn’t bat well in the first innings. Also, I think we could have done much better with the ball on the first day” , added Bahutule .
Meanwhile, Bengal manager Samir Dasgupta has some strong words in his report . Mr Dasgupta in his report has blamed the lack of preparation ahead of the quarter finals . Madhya Pradesh cricketers prepared themselves for the Ranji quarters against Bengal in a weeklong camp at Surat . The reason was to acclimatize themselves with the red soil at the Brabourne . While the Bengal cricketers were busy playing club cricket. Mr Dasgupta also raised questions about the involvement of few cricketers. Captain Manoj’s decision to bowl first winning the toss will also be mentioned in the report . Fitness of a few cricketers like Manoj and Veer Pratap was also questioned in the report.
Bengal had a pretty lackluster season with early round exits in Vijay Hazare Trophy and Syed Mustaq Ali tournament .