Bengal will put in their full might when they meet Himachal Pradesh in the third quarter final of Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy on November 1 at the Videocon Academy Ground in Salt Lake.
Led by Abhimanyu Easwaran, Bengal emerged as toppers of Elite Group E with 18 points. Though they began the campaign with an abandoned match against Jharkhand, Bengal went on to win four matches on a trot before facing reverses to Chandigarh.
But that has only emboldened the team. Coach L R Shukla said: “No match is easy no opposition is easy. We will play as hard as always. We will leave our best on the field and let’s see after that. We have a set team. The composition is good. The players are backing each other. Everyone is raising their hands to contribute. We are in a happy space in our mind.”
Asked about the team composition tomorrow, he said: “We are going with the same composition. I believe in stability.”
Talking about the pitch, he said: “It looks good. The more important thing is to go out and deliver.”
After the first two matches against Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat were abandoned without a ball being bowled due to bad weather, Himachal Pradesh, topped the table in Elite Group D shoring 20 points with wins from remaining four matches.
Though HP will enter the match on a winning momentum and the team looks high on confidence, they will have their work cut out against a rejuvenated Bengal playing with a home advantage. The X factor could be Bengal coach Shukla’s game reading capacity and home team’s potent bowling that could tilt the scales in favour of Bengal.
Source : CAB Media
Report- Pratyusha Mukherjee
