"We believe we can win from any situation" - Bengal captain Abhimanyu Easwaran eyes title ahead of Ranji Trophy knockouts 

It is no longer about just Manoj Tiwary. It is no longer about just the fiery pace troika. Not anymore. Bengal skipper Abhimanyu Easwaran takes heart from the fact that every single member of the side has put their hand up in different situations.

After finishing runners-up in the 2019/20 Ranji Trophy, Bengal will look to go one step further this season. They will take on eastern rivals Jharkhand in the quarterfinals starting June 6 at the Just Cricket Academy Ground in Bengaluru.

Bengal have come unscathed through the refurbished group stage, registering outright wins against Baroda (by 4 wickets), Hyderabad (72 runs) and Chandigarh (152 runs). While the fast bowling trio of Ishan Porel, Mukesh Kumar and Akash Deep have shared 39 scalps between them, Easwaran lavished praise on youngsters Shahbaz Ahamad and Abishek Porel. The lower-middle order, comprising those two and Sayan Sekhar Mondal, has been instrumental in vaulting the team from the abyss on many occasions.

In an exclusive chat with Sportskeeda, Abhimanyu Easwaran – with pride in his voice – stated that the confidence of the team is sky-high and all of them believe in turning matches around from any situation. A case in point would be the opening game versus Baroda, in which Bengal chased down 350 in the fourth innings after getting bundled out for just 88 on the second day.

However, the top order remains a soft underbelly. Although Easwaran has scored 235 runs with a century and fifty to boot, four of the six opening stands have failed to reach double-digits. The No. 3 spot has also been one of bother, with neither Writtick Chatterjee nor Ritwik Roy Chowdhury being able to make it their own. Equally disconcerting has been Wriddhiman Saha's ongoing tiff with the state association and the unavailability of ace pacer Mohammad Shami.

While echoing similar sentiments, the captain asserted that they have pulled out all stops to iron out the quandaries. Bengal have been crowned Ranji champions twice. If the Arun Lal-coached side are to win a third time, they need to fire on all cylinders.

Going by the assurance in Abhimanyu Easwaran’s voice, his hunger to lead from the front, his belief in the team, it seems Bengal would be a tough nut to crack.

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Excerpts from Abhimanyu Easwaran's exclusive interview with Sportskeeda:

Abhimanyu Easwaran has scored 4,841 runs at an average of 43.22 in 70 first-class games [Credits: BCCI]

Q. Bengal were too good in the league stage. But how does a three-month break affect the team? Of course you get some time to regroup, to get some fresh air, but it also takes the momentum away. How do you feel as a player?

Abhimanyu Easwaran: Preparations have been fine. We had some practice sessions in Kolkata, we played a couple of practice games here. We’ve got together as a group, which I think is very important. And it’s not something new because we are used to this and this break has been for every single team in the country who’s qualified for the knockouts. So I don’t think that should make any difference.

Q. There has been a bit of uncertainty around Wriddhiman Saha’s unavailability in the last two weeks. Has it affected the team by any means?

Abhimanyu Easwaran: No, not really. That was something between the association and Wriddhi da, which was I think handled in a decent way. It did not affect the team at all.

Q. We talk so much about match-ups these days. How much of the preparations go into studying the opposition team? Do you guys sit down with the video analyst to research into the Jharkhand team?

Abhimanyu Easwaran: Yeah we sat down as a team and looked at some of their videos of the group stages and the pre-quarterfinal. The video analyst has got all those videos, so we looked at them. We’ve already done some studies because there are a lot of guys who we’ve played against in the last few years. But you always want to look at their current videos, if they’ve changed something.

Q. I am sure across the three group games, you have realised many positives and negatives of your team. What have been the biggest takeaways for you?

Abhimanyu Easwaran: The biggest takeaway has always been the way the fast bowlers have bowled in the past two years. And Abishek Porel has done really well in the group stage, playing just his first season. And I would say Shahbaz Ahamad played a few important knocks and bowled well too.

Q. Sayan Sekhar Mondal’s addition has also been fantastic. Do you feel the lower-middle order is also one of the strengths of this side?

Abhimanyu Easwaran: Yeah he didn’t play the first game but, in the next two games, he did really well. He contributed both with the bat and the ball, so we’ve been very happy with the way things have gone with Sayan Sekhar Mondal. They [lower-middle order] have played really important knocks, I would say that’s a really important thing. We are really lucky that those guys have come in – there has not been too much experience there, apart from Sayan Sekhar Mondal. It is probably the second proper season for Shahbaz, first season for Porel. I think we’ve got the experience in the top five. But then it’s just about getting those runs and, if we can get runs upfront, we’ll finish what we want as a team.

Q. But the opening partnership hasn’t always been great. Out of the six innings, four have been single-digit scores. And both Writtick and Ritwik haven’t able to nail down the No. 3 spot. Do you feel that is an area that needs improvement?

Abhimanyu Easwaran: We’ve been sorting out who’s going to play No. 3. So that’s actually one of our issues, that who do we get in as No.3 or who opens for us. But then there are obviously going to be areas in any team which wins or loses. But I think we’ve sorted that out and we’re very clear about things as of now. Guys are confident – they’ve played a few innings here and they’ve practised and worked on their games. I think they should come good.

Q. In the very first match against Baroda, Bengal were blown away for just 88. From there to registering three consecutive outright wins, how do you look at the mental toughness of this side?

Abhimanyu Easwaran: That’s the best part about this team, if you had to pick one thing. Guys have gotten together when the things get tough. And that shows the mental strength of a team – getting 88 all out in the first innings and then coming back and chasing 350 against a good quality attack. It’s just the belief that kept us going, because we knew we had the ability to chase the total down and we had enough time.

The biggest trump of this team is that we believe that we can win from any situation. And we’ve done it in the past. The way we reached the finals – the last two games we played and then the quarterfinals, semifinals; the way we bowled; Anustup Majumdar came and did the rescue, Shahbaz played important knocks. I think that’s the belief that we can win from any situation. And that is probably the key to whatever little success we’ve got as a team.

Q. When your team is down and you are the opening batter and captain, that burden of expectation is different. How do you deal with this pressure because I am sure Abhimanyu the person has also had a significant growth in the last 2-3 years?

Abhimanyu Easwaran: Yeah, I think I’ve really enjoyed this phase of my career. Obviously there have been a few ups and downs, but then I’ve really enjoyed to take responsibilities of things. And when the team needs it the most, I’ve put my front foot forward a lot of times. I just want to enjoy it and keep winning games for my team.

That is the primary aim – if you play cricket, you want to win games for whatever team you play. The way we chased down that 350, I think the start was really important. But then I should’ve finished the game, but we were lucky enough to win that game. I hope we can just keep pushing and getting big scores upfront, I think that will put us in a really good position to win any game.

Q. Talking about you, I know you were disappointed with the IPL auction. How big a setback was that? And did Dhaka Premier League sort of help you clear your mind?

Abhimanyu Easwaran: It’s not like I was really disappointed. I mean, you always expect your name to be there and you want to play probably the best league in the world. But then I had an opportunity to play in Dhaka and that was a great exposure to play against some international cricketers from around the world.

And especially the Bangladesh cricketers – in their conditions, they are pretty good. So it was a good exposure. And then I came back and played a few club games in Kolkata. I felt I’ve kept myself busy and just kept playing games and kept testing and challenging myself. And that is something I really enjoy. So that’s been about the last two months.

Q. How do you look at captaincy?

Abhimanyu Easwaran: I have enjoyed the challenge so far. And I’ve been lucky enough that the team has performed well since I’ve been the captain. I enjoy taking responsibility and I feel that when you play for Bengal, it’s a matter of pride for any cricketer. And to lead a place like Bengal where the fans are pretty passionate – and if you see any sport, people are very passionate about it – you feel proud of what you are doing.

And you just that take that responsibility and make sure that you’re taking the team in the right direction. So I think that is one of the important things. If I can just take my team forward, I think we can perform better in every coming year – be it any format. And as much as I can help by trying and taking the best out of them, that will be something I’ll look to focus on.

And obviously improving myself as a player because, at the end of the day, it’s my responsibility to perform and take my team through to victories or probably titles. And I pretty much enjoy this responsibility. It feels great when you see a guy making his debut in Ranji Trophy and then he wins you the game. You should back that guy and have full faith in him. And those are the small things which give a lot of confidence and you enjoy that a lot.

Q. You began with a 79 in that second innings against Baroda and ended with that 114 versus Chandigarh. How do you analyse your own performance?

Abhimanyu Easwaran: I was batting well to be honest, but I could not make the most of it. I think I could have converted at least a couple more scores there. I think I should have got at least a couple of hundreds, big ones.

Q. How do you handle the three fast bowlers? Do you feel absolutely relaxed knowing you have three options to go to or are you sometimes worried about their fitness with more games lined up?

Abhimanyu Easwaran: It’s a balance. You can’t really think of three games, because it’s a knockout game and you have to take one game at a time. And the best part is, these guys are fit and they are willing to bowl long spells. So that gives me a lot of options as to how I want to take the game ahead or what sort of plans I want to execute as a captain.

And I think they really enjoy bowling, that is a key component for them. You ask anybody, ‘Ishan, one more over?’ He will always say ‘yes’. There won’t be anything like, ‘No, I will just stop.’ So guys are really willing to take wickets and put in the hard yards for the team. That’s something I really enjoy on the field. And it’s great to watch them bowl 100 percent every single ball – whatever they have in them, they just give it all on the field.

Q. Does it happen the other way round when they themselves come up to you asking for more overs?

Abhimanyu Easwaran: Yeah, there have been times. It’s not like you can say now that I will only bowl him for these many overs. It’s about what I feel on the field. And they also give me updates, as in they want to change ends etc. It’s actually about communicating well and I think we have a really good rapport and we communicate well. That’s been one of the keys to our bowling attack.

Q. Guys like Writtick Chatterjee, Shahbaz, Akash Deep are coming from the IPL. Do their inputs help or you feel Ranji Trophy is a different ball game?

Abhimanyu Easwaran: It’s not just inputs on how to play T20. It’s just about probably some work ethic, or how they prepare. I mean, he’s had long chats with DK or say Virat Kohli – I think these guys always help you grow as a cricketer. So their exposure will always help us.

And Shahbaz has been somebody who always tries and helps guys in the team. I think he’s one of those cricketers who thinks a lot about the game. I think that’s been a really good part – these guys getting their experience and it’s just amazing to see how everybody wants to perform for Bengal. These guys will come up and try and they’ll just try and help each other. That is something that has been a culture in our team and I think it should keep going on like this.

Q. All the games are in Karnataka. And Bengal have played a lot of cricket there, so are you taking positives from that as well?

Abhimanyu Easwaran: There was this KSCA tournament which used to happen. So Bengal team used to come there and we’ve played here for about three-four years. So that’s been a good experience. And I feel the wickets here have something for the bowlers and the batters. These are good cricketing wickets and, whichever team plays good cricket on those given five days, will win. So that is something which we look up to, and it’s just about playing our best cricket and enjoying ourselves on the field.

Q. You fell just one step short in 2020. How are you looking at the final this time around? As a team, do you try to take one step at a time or do you look at the bigger picture because that gives a different motivation?

Abhimanyu Easwaran: Like in life, you always have an ultimate goal. So for us, that will always be winning the Ranji Trophy. I think it’s just focusing on one game, or probably if you can shorten it to one day or a session. It’s just about winning sessions as much as you can. And if we keep winning sessions, that would end up making you win the game. So we are trying to make small targets and just stay in the present.

For now, it’s just about preparing well for the game, staying fresh and working on whatever skills you want to. And we’ll take it one day at a time. Last year, we were so close. So that is there in ourselves, that we have to win the final. And we believe that we can win the finals.