KOLKATA: There happy faces galore at the
Eden Gardens
as Bengal made the
Ranji
Trophy final after 13 years. The team showed great camaraderie during the impromptu celebrations. Although the batting unit did not fire consistently this season, the bowlers more than made up with their sterling show.
"I have felt from the start of the season that we have the best attack in the country. Nobody comes anywhere near us," coach
Arun Lal said.
Skipper Abhimanyu Easwaran echoed his coach's view. "I'm sure they are the best fast bowling attack in India at the moment. It's really nice to see how they are delivering day in and day out," he said.
Lal was not surprised to see how the young Bengal attack dominated a batting powerhouse like Karnataka with all the 20 wickets being picked up by the pacers. "We believe we have got a fabulous bunch of boys. I feel we are still playing way below our potential. God helps the opposition when we get everything right," Lal stated.
Bengal's hero of the day
Mukesh Kumar felt it's the fitness aspect that has made the difference this season. "Special thanks to Lal sir. He gave special emphasis on our fitness. Sir used to say at our pre-season training that 'even if you don't win the trophy, you have to be the number one team in fitness' and we have showed that," Mukesh said.
Bengal spin bowling consultant Utpal Chatterjee felt likewise. "Bengal did have good pace attack earlier, but for me this is the fittest unit ever," he said.
Bengal gave a lot of attention to fitness during the pre-season camp in July. "The boys worked very hard this time. They used to run 25 rounds initially. The focus was on building power, strength and fitness," Lal said.
Easwaran felt that has helped. "We have become a fitter unit this year which has helped us conquer tough situations," he said.
Anushtup Majumdar
, whose unbeaten 149 made the difference in the semifinal and saw him named man of the match, hailed Lal's contribution. "He (Lal) made us dream of winning Ranji Trophy from the first day," he said.
He too had special words for the bowlers. "They were fabulous. No team has managed to score 250 against us," he stated. "We always had confidence that they will get the job done on any pitch," he added.
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