CALCUTTA (India): Bengal advanced into the Ranji Trophy semifinals after 2017 after taking a convincing first innings lead against Odisha in Cuttack on Monday.
Bengal, who hasn’t won the title after 1989-90 season, scored 332 and 373 while Odisha mustered 250 & 39 after which the captains shook hands for a draw.
“The team lacked confidence. We just tried to revive it. We cannot teach everyone at this age. What we did was to change the players’ mindset,” team’s spin consultant Utpal Chatterjee told Khelupdates.com
Shahbaz Ahmed (64) contributed with his bat in both the innings, but his seventh wicket partnership with Arnab Nandy (45) pulled away the match from Odisha.
The pair put on 78 runs for the seventh wicket.
Earlier, Avishek Raman (67) and Sreevats Goswami (78) gave Bengal the kind of solidity it required early in the innings.
“The team is in the right frame of mind. Everyone is chipping in. We are playing as a unit. There is great atmosphere and camaredrie in the dressing room and a quiet belief that we can go the distance,” said coach Arun Lal.
Bengal will meet Karnataka, who beat Jammu and Kashmir by 168 runs, in the last four clash.
“We are striving everyday to be better versions of ourselves. Karnataka is a very strong side. But we are concerned with our team. We will be talking with our think tank and play to our strength. We know in order to be best we have the beat the best,” said Bengal captain Abhimanyu Easwaran.
