Birth of a new Bengal: Tiwary

KOLKATA: Having come second-best in five national finals (thrice in Vijay Hazare Trophy and twice in Ranji Trophy) in recent years, Manoj Tiwary was a relieved man to have broken the jinx on Wednesday.
"It was a fantastic victory," a delighted skipper told TOI on landing at the Kolkata airport late on Wednesday night. "I feel it's the birth of a new Bengal."
Tiwary was all praise for his young side."From the first day of this season, our coach WV Raman and I had tried to work out a process for the greater good of Bengal cricket. We had stressed on the development of the youth force and I am glad that the youngsters have responded well to that," he said.
The skipper said the team always believed that they could win the tournament. "While playing in the knock-out stages, we never thought we could lose. We always believed in ourselves," Tiwary said.
"It's a new team and the boys were ready to fight till the last ball. Youngsters like Sayan Sekhar Mondal and Arnab Nandi have done exceedingly well. They have excelled under crunch situations like the one in the final and I hope we will see a transformation in the longer formats also," Tiwary hoped.
Bengal coach WV Raman believes the best move was to have someone like Subhomoy Das, who normally opens the innings, bat at No. 5. "The boys won some really close matches in this tournament. It was a conscious decision to have Subhomoy at No. 5. It clicked, and full credit to the boys for winning it," Raman said.
Subhomoy, who won the match for Bengal with a crucial knock of 49, feels this innings will help him seal a berth in the state side. He had joined the unofficial Indian Cricket League in 2007, and is making a Bengal comeback.
"My best year in first-class cricket was under WV Raman (in 2001) and it's a happy coincidence that this comeback has been also under him. I went through a difficult period in the past two years and this innings will help me regain confidence."
The CAB will award cash prize of Rs 10 lakh to the victorious team.