Shamik Chakrabarty at Eden Gardens
The Pied Piper was in Delhi, wooing fans to dance to his tune, to be at his beck and call. That, in a positive sense.
Virat Kohli has single-handedly given domestic cricket a facelift. Close to 20,000 fans turned up at the Feroz Shah Kotla, now the Arun Jaitley Stadium. The host broadcasters changed their plans to live telecast the Delhi versus Railways Ranji Trophy game. Irrespective of his current form, Kohli remains the game’s biggest brand.
The game between Bengal and Punjab offered the other end of the spectrum. About 200 spectators cared to pay a visit at the Eden Gardens. One of them blew a conch shell when a Punjab wicket fell, or later, when a Bengal batsman hit a four. Domestic cricket all over the country is usually played in tranquillity. Die-hard supporters are aberrations.
Shorn of stardust, the Bengal-Punjab game is a low-key affair. Shubham Gill’s presence could have raised interest a bit, but with the ODI series about a week away, the youngster decided to opt out. Also, the hosts being effectively out of this season’s Ranji Trophy was a spoiler. As things stand, Bengal need a mini-miracle to qualify for the knockouts. They need to win this game with a bonus point, plus other results, involving Kerala and Karnataka, should go their way.
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For Bengal, it’s has been a season of disappointment. From the team’s perspective, the washed-out tie against Bihar would rankle. At the same time, this has been a season when Bengal’s batting collectively proved to be a let-down. Even against a depleted Punjab, the batting stuttered, limping to 119/4 at stumps on Day 1. Yet, again, the top order showed poor application.
Earlier, Bengal handed debuts to medium pacer Sumit Mohanta and left-arm spinner Vishal Bhati. On a greenish pitch, they won the toss, bowled first and reduced Punjab to 107/6. But the last three Punjab wickets added 84 runs to take their total to 191. The rearguard basically came from one player, Anmol Malhotra, who scored 106 not out off 114 balls. For Bengal, Mohanta returned figures of 4/58, while his new-ball partner Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal took 4/68.
Brief scores: Punjab 191 all out (Anmol Malhotra 106 not out; Sumit Mohanta 4/58, Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal 4/68) vs Bengal 119/4
Also Read: Lacklustre atmosphere turns into healthy crowd for Karnataka Ranji game
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