KOLKATA
Bengal shall be eager to offer its captain Manoj Tiwary a befitting farewell and end a forgettable season on a optimistic observe in its final Ranji Trophy Group-B engagement towards Bihar beginning on the Eden Gardens right here on Friday.
Bengal, positioned sixth with 12 factors from one win, two defeats and three attracts, was out of the knockouts race after its consecutive losses to Mumbai and Kerala. It will goal at securing a morale-boosting outright win.
Abhimanyu Easwaran, Anustup Majumdar and Tiwary, who accomplished 10,000 First Class runs this season, shall be among the many key batters for the house facet.
The return of seamer Mukesh Kumar, who was launched from the Indian group to play home cricket, shall be a bonus for the hosts as he’ll mix with an in-form Suraj Jaiswal and Mohammad Kaif within the tempo division.
All-rounder Shahbaz Ahmed will present steadiness to the facet.
“Our main aim is to finish the campaign with a victory. No doubt, it will be an emotional match for me, but I don’t want the focus to be entirely on me,” mentioned Tiwary, who led the facet to the ultimate within the earlier season.
The bottom-ranked Bihar, which has 5 factors from three losses and as many attracts, will even look to log out the season with a heartwarming end result.
Sakibul Gani and Bipin Kumar Saurabh are the main run-getters this season, whereas medium pacer Veer Pratap Singh is the top-wicket-taker for Bihar.
The guests want to lift their sport to cease Bengal at its residence.