Ranji Trophy: Bengal takes on Madhya Pradesh in bid to finish 33-year trophy drought

Defending champion and rising heavyweight Madhya Pradesh’s exuberance will meet Bengal’s dogged desperation to finish a 33-year-long title drought when the 2 groups conflict within the Ranji Trophy semifinal on the Holkar Stadium right here from Wednesday.  

Bengal stumbled at the identical hurdle towards the identical opposition final season and can hope to make amends in what’s its third-consecutive semifinal look. The host, in the meantime, would have needed to get well from a roller-coaster quarterfinal towards Andhra on the similar venue, the place it had to attract on all its reserves of fortitude to script a five-wicket win after conceding a 151-run first-innings lead.  

The customer, which drubbed Jharkhand by 9 wickets within the quarterfinal, loved a extra facile entry into the last-four stage however will have to be cautious of being caught off guard towards an opposition that can prey on a single session of weak point.  

A living proof is tempo spearhead Avesh Khan, Madhya Pradesh’s main wicket-taker this season with 36 scalps at 17.08, who picked 4 for twenty-four and turned the match on its head as Andhra collapsed for 93 within the second innings. The India worldwide has had ready assist from fellow pacers Gaurav Yadav (22 wickets at 22.22) and Anubhav Agarwal and spinners Kumar Kartikeya (27 wickets; common 20.14) and Saransh Jain (28 wickets; common 20.17).

This is the place Bengal’s expertise will maintain it in good stead. At 37 and 38, respectively, captain Manoj Tiwary and Anustup Majumdar (590 runs; common 59) have been among the many runs whereas former skipper Abhimanyu Easwaran’s 738 runs at a median of 92.25 have been the spotlight. Young Sudip Kumar Gharami has delivered on his promise by averaging 53 for his 636 runs and Bengal’s batting, save for a constant opening accomplice for Easwaran, seems strong. 

There are even fewer chinks in the bowling armour as the tempo trio of Akash Deep, Ishan Porel and Mukesh Kumar have ensured Bengal doesn’t concede in extra of 300 greater than as soon as on this version of the Ranji Trophy. Moreover, with Shahbaz Ahmed and Pradipta Pramanik shouldering spin duties, the Madhya Pradesh batters could have their activity minimize out.  

Barring Rajat Patidar, no batter has averaged 50 or above this season for the defending champion and captain Aditya Shrivastava’s horror kind has been a priority. Shubham Sharma has provided stability at No.3 however openers Himanshu Mantri and Yash Dubey have lacked consistency of late.  

With circumstances at the Holkar Stadium favouring each spinners and seamers and low-scoring video games being the order of the day for the big a part of the match, graft with the bat, notably within the second innings, may very well be pivotal.   

Both Madhya Pradesh and Bengal had a stoop in kind and endured shock defeats in direction of the tip of the group stage earlier than getting their act collectively within the quarterfinals. However, a solitary  fake pas, at a venue the place the first-innings lead ensures little benefit, may very well be deadly for his or her title aspirations.  

The groups (from):

Bengal: Manoj Tiwary (captain), Abhimanyu Eswaran, Anustup Majumdar, Sudip Gharami, Suvankar Bal, Shahbaz Ahmed, Abishek Porel (wk), Ishan Porel, Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep, Kazi Junaid Saifi, Pradipta Pramanik, Geet Puri, Pritam Chakraborty, Sumanta Gupta, Ankit Mishra, Akash Ghatak and Durgesh Dubey, Karan Lal.

Madhya Pradesh: Aditya Shrivastava (c), Rajat Patidar, Yash Dubey, Himanshu Mantri, Harsh Gawli, Shubham Sharma, Akshat Raghuwanshi, Aman Solanki, Kumar Kartikeya, Saransh Jain, Avesh Khan, Ankit Kushwaha, Gaurav Yadav, Anubhav Agarwal, Mihir Hirwani.