Bengal to miss Sourav in key clash against M'bai

Despite a winning start to their Ranji Trophy campaign, Bengal find themselves on the back-foot on the eve of their second match against mighty Mumbai which begins at the Eden Gardens on Friday.

Sourav Ganguly, who had led the last year’s finalists to a closely-fought victory against Punjab in Mohali, will be missing the match after getting a call-up to the national team. Opener Subhomoy Das too was ruled out following a bereavement in his family. Subhomoy lost his mother on Wednesday night.

“The first match is always crucial. It sets the tone for things to come,” Mumbai coach Praveen Amre said after the practice session on Thursday.

This though is an advantage for Bengal. “I feel we have a slight advantage because Mumbai will be playing their first match tomorrow. We have potentially the best team in the country and all we need to do is apply ourselves,” Bengal skipper Deep Dasgupta said.

And players will have an extra incentive to perform well as chairman of selectors Dilip Vengsarkar, who landed here on Thursday evening, will be present to keep an eye on the proceedings.

But newly appointed skipper Amol Mazumdar’s boys will take heart from the fact that the full-strength Bengal side had lost to a lot more inexperienced Mumbai CA XI in the Moin-ud-Dowlah Gold Cup in September.

“The team we took to Hyderabad was even more inexperienced than the one we have here and although that is history, it definitely gives us a psychological edge,” Amre said. Another factor that keeps Mumbai ahead is the weight the team carries having won the tournament 36 times.

“That and the loss in Hyderabad is history. This is a new match,” Dasgupta said. Manoj Tewari is likely to play in place of Ganguly while opener Amitava Chakraborty will replace Subhomoy.

As for Mumbai, 19-year-old Rohit Sharma is all set to make his Ranji debut.