Kalyani : Bengal are all set to start their Ranji Trophy 2026-27 campaign with Delhi at Kalyani’s Bengal Cricket Academy Ground from October 11.
The two times Ranji Trophy winner Bengal last won the coveted title in 1989-90 season and since then they couldn’t touch the glory even after coming near to it multiple times. Even last year they lost to Jammu and Kashmir in semi final and got knocked out.
However, this year, Laxmi Ratan Shukla’s Bengal have retained their core group led by experienced Abhimanyu Easwaran and Sudip Chatterjee as vice captain.
With the availability of its international pace trio, including Mohammed Shami, Akash Deep and Mukesh Kumar, Bengal will try to make an impactful start to the season.
Akash Deep returns to competitive Cricket following injury last season against Jammu and Kashmir that kept him out until Irani Cup 2026.
After picking 6 wickets for winning campaign of Rest of India against the same opposition in Irani Cup in Srinagar, he is eyeing strong comeback for Bengal this season.
“As a fast bowler, it’s a challenge to stay in professional cricket for 10 years because you don’t get time to prepare your body. In the injury period, I prepared my body. In the first match (following a break), you don’t push yourself. Still, my rhythm was good and I bowled at a good pace, the way I used to bowl four-five years ago. That’s a good sign,” said a confident Akash on Saturday.
Akash could think differently during the break. “Both physically and mentally, it’s important to work on yourself as an elite athlete. When I was free, I was able to realise this. When we play, we can’t do that.”
Seasoned spinners like Pramanik and off-spinner Aamir Gani will strengthen the bowling along with in form spinner all rounder Karan Lal who will also play a big part in the squad.
The side will miss veteran middle order batter Anustup Majumdar, who retired after playing last season and switched to coaching.
“We will focus on our strength,” said Bengal head coach L.R. Shukla.
Led by opener Abhimanyu Easwaran, the home team will field debutant Ankur Paul who made headlines in First Division. The Batting has experience and youth with likes of Sudip Gharami, Sudip Chatterjee, wicketkeeper-batter Abishek Porel, Easwaran and so on.
Returning as Delhi’s head coach replacing Sarandeep Singh with an aim to revive its fortunes, Vijay Dahiya asked his players to look at the gains. “We are facing an India attack and should give our best. There couldn’t have been a better start to the season. We need to play intelligently,” said Dahiya, whose first target is to help Delhi reach the knockout stage.
Familiar names who also play IPL like skipper Ayush Badoni, Yash Dhull, Anuj Rawat along with last season’s prolific scorers Sanat Sangwan and Ayush Doseja, give Delhi’s batting a stable look.
Experienced pacer Navdeep Saini, who will lead the touring team’s attack, would guide youngsters in the bowling department.
Seven times winner Delhi last time won Ranji Trophy was back in 2007-08 season.
Even though previous season’s semifinalist Bengal appears to be a heavyweight against Delhi, a team which last made it to the knockout stage in 2017-18, both will eye strong starts to their campaign.
Head to Head :
Bengal and Delhi’s recent five encounters in the Ranji Trophy indicate a perfectly even record:
• Bengal Wins: 1
• Delhi Wins: 1
• Draws: 3.
Bengal Squad for Delhi clash –
Abhimanyu Easwaran (c), Sudip Gharami (vc), Sudip Chatterjee, Abhishek Porel (wk), Shakir Habib Gandhi (wk), Ankur Paul, Sumanta Gupta, Ankit Shukla, Subham Chatterjee, Mohammed Shami, Akash Deep, Mukesh Kumar, Suraj Jaiswal, Pradipta Pramanik, Aamir Gani, Md Kaif, Soumyadip Mandal, Karan Lal.
Delhi Squad –
Ayush Badoni (C), Yash Dhull (VC), Sanat Sangwan, Ayush Doseja, Anuj Rawat (WK), Dev Lakra, Hritik Shokeen, Divij Mehra, Money Grewal, Simarjeet Singh, Navdeep Saini, Pranav Rajvanshi (WK), Sarthak Ranjan, Tejasvi, Dhruv Kaushik, Sumit Mathur.
