KOLKATA:
Bengal
will look to end a fairly good domestic season on a high by clinching the
Vijay Hazare Trophy (One-dayers) meet which will kick-off at different centres of the country on Monday.
Bengal, placed in Group 'B' along with Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Tripura, Himachal Pradesh and Kerala, will play all their matches at three different venues in Himachal Pradesh.
Bengal had done reasonably well in the shorter format of the game and will be boosted by the fact that they were the runners-up last year in this tournament. The Manoj Tiwary-led side will fancy their chances this time too and will start among the favourities to make it to the quarterfinals as one of the top two teams from this group. The winner of this tournament will get to play the Deodhar Trophy meet that will bring the curtains down on 2017-18 domestic season.
Talking about the group, Tiwary said, "If we want to win the tournament we need to beat tough teams. And the team is ready to do that."
Bengal had reached Himachal Pradesh three days in advance to get acclimatised to the conditions there and all the boys are raring to go now.
They will look for a winning start when they open their campaign against Maharashtra at Amtar on Monday. Bengal will aim to dominate their rivals who must be low on confidence after a poor domestic season this time. However, the Rahul Tripathi-led side has some seasoned campaigners like Anupam Sanklecha, Ankit Bawne and others who can turn the tide on any given day.
Tiwary will have a good headache while deciding on the opening combination.
Shreevats Goswami and Vivek Singh had done the job well in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 meet, but with Abhimanyu Easwaran and Abhishek Raman back in the fold, Goswami is expected to come down the order.
Sudip Chatterjee is unavailable for Monday's match as he is nursing a sprained ankle.
However, Bengal are unlikely to get the service of youngster Ishan Porel for at least the first two matches. The India Under-19 World Cup-winning team member is expected to be back in the country on Tuesday only and is likely to proceed to Himachal on Wednesday, the day of Bengal's second match, only.
But it remains to be seen whether Porel gives the entire tournament a miss and moves to the
National Cricket Academy
(NCA) in Bengaluru for rehabilitation following a foot injury which forced the pacer to miss some matches in New Zealand.
Missing out on an IPL team this time in spite of picking up a bagful of wickets can see
Ashok Dinda bowl with fire under conditions that are expected to help the seamers.
Tiwary hoped the boys have learnt from their mistakes in the All-India Syed Mushtaq Ali meet and will give their best in Himachal Pradesh.
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