India U-19 Asia Cup winning hero in Bengal squad

KOLKATA: Bengal selectors on Monday took a bold decision by including India Under-19 Asia Cup-winning team member Karan Lal in the squad for the first three matches of the upcoming Vijay Hazare (50-over) Trophy. The allrounder's 37-run knock helped the Indian colts beat Bangladesh in the final in Colombo on Saturday and the selectors felt the youngster was ready to feature in the senior Bengal setup.
Another youngster Prayas Roy Barman, who played for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the previous edition of IPL, has also found a place in the 17-member squad, to be led by Abhimanyu Easwaran.It will be the opener's first assignment as senior Bengal skipper.
However, Easwaran, along with pacer Ishan Porel, will be missing the first two matches of the competition as they will be playing for the Board President's XI side against the visiting South Africa team.
Left-handed batsman Sudip Chatterjee will be leading the side in Easwaran's absence. The squad which also includes former skipper Manoj Tiwary while spinner Arnab Nandy made a comeback after being ignored last season.
Bengal will miss Wriddhiman Saha, who is part of the Indian Test squad for the series against South Africa. The selectors have named Sreevats Goswami and Agniv Pan as the two wicketkeepers.
The pace attack will be spearheaded by experienced Ashok Dinda along with Sayan Ghosh, Ayan Bhattacharjee and Akash Deep.
Placed in Elite Group C, Bengal will open their Hazare Trophy campaign against Gujarat in Jaipur on September 24. The other teams in Bengal's group are Services, Jammu & Kashmir, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Tripura, Bihar and Railways. The top two teams from the group will make the quarterfinals.
BENGAL SQUAD
Abhimanyu Easwaran (capt), Sudip Chatterjee (vice-capt.), Manoj Tiwary, Sreevats Goswami, Anushtup Majumder, Ashok Dinda, Sayan Ghosh, Abhishek Raman, Ritwik Roy Chowdhury, Ishan Porel, Arnab Nandy, Ayan Bhattacharjee, Prayas Roy Barman, Agniv Pan, Shahbaz Ahmad, Akash Deep, Karan Lal.