NEW DELHI:
Cricket Association of Bengal
president
Sourav Ganguly is ecstatic about Bengal U-19 team's triumph in the
Cooch Behar Trophy
, "I congratulated the team on a great win. This win augurs well for Bengal cricket," Ganguly told TOI on Monday.
The former Indian captain also stressed the importance of winning such important junior domestic tournaments, which is the supply line for the state and as well as for India. "These tournament are very important. I grew up as a cricketer playing U-19 tournaments. Even a
Virat Kohli today is a product of such events," Ganguly said.
Ganguly, however, didn't get into the 'throwing them young' debate by selecting a few of them for the senior team. But bowling consultant with the Bengal team TA Sekar agreed that U-19 is the best stage to showcase the talent. "Under-19 is a stage is a very important stage for any talent. This is the time when you look up to the next level like U-22 and Ranji Trophy teams. If you good enough, you can also get picked for U-19 India team that gives you an entry into IPL," Sekar, who also looks after the IPL outfit Delhi Daredevils, said.
"From my experience I can tell you one thing that people are always looking at U-19 and 22 boys all the time. That is the main supply line," Sekar added.
In fact, Bengal has become a new hub for talented pacers after the likes of
Mohd Shami
and
Ashok Dinda. Sekar said that the state has a bunch of eight pacers who are ready for Ranji Trophy. Out of these eight, four of them get to play for the senior team. "I worked with a few of them like
Kanishk Seth and Sayan Ghosh who are good prospects," Sekar said.
The list is, perhaps, endless. From Ishan Porel, Sayan Ghosh, Ravi Kant Singh, Alok Pratap, Ananta Saha, Pritam Chakraborty, Amit Kuilla and Sandipan Das. According to the Bengal U-19 coach
Gautam Shome
(jr), who himself was a renowned pacer for Bengal, quite a few of them can clock around 135 km/hr. "I can't tell you the reason why Bengal has so many good pacers at the same time. But it's a good news for the state," Shome added.