Kolkata: An upbeat Bengal side will take on Assam in their next Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament match on Saturday (January 16) with the focus on fighting for top spot at Eden Gardens. Despite having same points Bengal are now placed second to Tamil Nadu due to net runrate in the points table.
In charge of the team Sourashis Lahiri in absence of head coach Arun Lal, spoke about the mindset, “We have been very consistent and positive till now. Run rate is going to be very crucial along with points for every team and we are prepared for that, we have that mindset.”
“You need positivity, lot of energy and aggression in this format and if you can combine these three you runrate automatically will go higher. We have prepared for these situations and it’s time for us to deliver.”
“Our pace attack, spinners and all rounders are doing well. We are catching and fielding well, so everything is good till now. The preparation has been well and players have executed well, spot on. We hope it will continue the same way,” he added.
Bengal will be charged by their winning momentum after registering victories in all three matches while Assam who have won just one till now will be carrying confidence from their good fightback against Jharkhand.
Vivek Singh and Sreevats Goswami firing well at the top is good news for Bengal but middle orders form can be something to worry them. Saying all that Bengal have a long batting lineup crafted with Writtick Chatterjee, Shahbaz Ahamed and Arnab Nandi while Assam’s dependency on Riyan Parag have been quite prominent.
Bowling has been a big strength for Anustup Majumder’s men with Ishan Porel and Akash Deep firing all cylinders with their lethal pace and spinners keeping things tight for opponents. Assam’s bowling is the main concern for them right now with as their bowlers bagged only three wickets in last two matches.
The Squads:
Assam: Rishav Das (c), Rajjakuddin Ahmed, Arup Das, Amlanjyoti Paresh Das, Pritam Das, Pallavkumar Das, Mrinmoy Dutta, Saahil Jain, Mukhtar Hussain, Riyan Parag, Rahul Singh, Amit Sinha, Abhishek Thakuri.
Bengal: Anustup Majumdar (c), Akash Deep, Sudip Chatterjee, Writtick Chatterjee, Abhishek Das, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shreevats Goswami, Mukesh Kumar, Arnab Nandi, Ishan Porel, Ravikant Singh, Prayas Barman, Ritwik Chowdhury, Kazi Saifi, Shahbaz Ahmed, Manoj Tiwary, Vivek Singh.
