The inclusion of wicketkeeper Satyabrata Murmu and the exclusion of Ashok Dinda are the headlines of the Bengal squad announcement for the pre-season Karnataka State Cricket Association Invitational Tournament in Bengaluru and Mysore from July 22 to August 18. The squad announced for the pre-Ranji Trophy tournament, Dr. (Capt) K. Thimmappiah Memorial Invitation Tournament, is to be led by Manoj Tiwary and Sudip Chatterjee is to be his deputy.
The story of the 26-year-old Satyabrata Khagensdanath Murmu is a rare one. He is the first representative in the Bengal squad from the insurgency afflicted region of Jhargram, an area known more for darker tales than his. He will be the first tribal player to be fielded for Bengal in the Ranji Trophy if he makes his mark in this tournament.
Satyabrata is known to have used to travel seven hours daily from his village to Kolkata for his pursuit of cricket.
Having harboured the unlikely dream of being a cricketer since childhood, this Gilchrist fan worked his way through the age levels in Bengal cricket, but has found breaking into the senior team elusive. He was selected in the team for this same pre-season tournament two years ago, where he had scored 62 and 68, but had subsequently got injured.
With Shreevats Goswami’s failure to grasp his chances, the path has been paved for Satyabrata’s entry into the senior team again.
Spinner Pragyan Ojha is part of the side that has been named, though the ex-Hyderabad bowler had been scheduled for a county stint. The bowling department wears a new look with the exclusion of the 32-year-old Dinda, who had picked up 11 wickets in the 2016 IPL for Rising Pune SuperGiants.
With Manoj scheduled to miss the first match against KSCA Colts, Sudip will be called upon to lead the team.
Youngsters Prasenjit Das, Koushik Ghosh, Ritwik Roy Chowdhury, Amit Kuila, Ishan Porel, Agniv Pan have been given a chance to showcase their talent in this tournament. More hardened first-class cricketers like Abhimanyu Easwaran and Veer Pratap Singh are also in the squad.
A pool of six reserve players have also been named, who alongwith the 16-member squad, will participate in a training camp under V. V. S. Laxman in Bengaluru from 16 to 21st July ahead of the tournament. They will then play three four-day matches.
Squad: Manoj Tiwary (c), Sudip Chatterjee (v-c), Satyabrata Murmu, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Prosenjit Das, Pankaj Shaw, Koushik Ghosh, Writtick Chatterjee, Ritwik Roychowdhury, Veer Pratap Singh, Pragyan Ojha, Aamir Gani, Mukesh Kumar, Amit Kuila, Ishan Porel, Agniv Pan.
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