Ranji Trophy: Tiwary to lead Bengal in Easwaran's absence, Tare to continue as Mumbai captain
Seniormost player Manoj Tiwary will be back as Bengal captain in absence of Abhimanyu Easwaran in their upcoming Ranji Trophy match against Delhi at Eden Gardens from Monday.
Easwaran, who was appointed skipper at the beginning of the season replacing Tiwary, is travelling to New Zealand for India A commitments.
Tiwary became the only second from Bengal to hit a triple century as his 303 not out sealed a massive innings and 303 runs win over Hyderabad in their last match at Kalyani, which was their first home win of the season.
The Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) had requested Tiwary to Bengal and he has duly agreed to take the responsibility against Delhi which will be their last home outing of the season.
"Tiwary has agreed to lead the side. The team will be announced on Friday," CAB joint secretary Debabrata Das told PTI.
Bengal are also "unlikely" to get the services of India wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha, who is undergoing rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) after recuperating from a finger surgery for a fracture sustained on his ring finger during the Day/Night against Bangladesh here in November.
The BCCI had earlier advised Saha to skip the fixture but the Das had requested the Board to allow the Bengal wicketkeeper for their last home league match of the season.
"But he is unlikely to be available as he's undergoing rehab," Das added.
Delhi stunned defending champions Vidarbha by six wickets in thrilling 347-run chase with Nitish Rana smashing a 68-ball 105 not out.
Their big win propelled Bengal (19 points from five matches) to third spot in the cross-pool. Delhi are placed eighth in the standings with 16 points from five matches.
Meanwhile, Aditya Tare will remain in his duty of leading Mumbai in the absence of Suryakumar Yadav, who is playing for India A in New Zealand.
Tare had led Mumbai in their away game against Tamil Nadu and home game against Uttar Pradesh, both in which the 41-times domestic champions had taken the first-innings lead.
The MCA announced the 15-member squad for the game to be played against Himachal Pradesh from January 27 to 30 in Dharamsala.
Mumbai's latest triple centurion Sarfaraz Khan has found a place along with experienced campaigner Siddhesh Lad.
Young players Bhupen Lalwani and Hardik Tamore, who played useful knocks against Uttar Pradesh, have also retained their places.
The spin attack will be led by all-rounder Shams Mulani and offie Shashank Attarde, while Tushar Deshpande, Deepak Shetty, Akash Parkar and Royston Dias are the pacers in the squad.
