Bengal pacers Ranadeb Bose and Shib Shankar Paul with Team India ODI captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Sreesanth on the eve of Bengal’s Ranji Trophy match against Hyderabad at Eden Gardens on Saturday. Picture by Santosh Ghosh

Calcutta: A lot has changed since Bengal finished runners-up in the Ranji Trophy last season.

With the ICL bug biting Indian cricket, Bengal are one of the worst hit with six of their players jumping the fence to join the Subhas Chandra-floated rebel league.

Prominent among them are Deep Dasgupta, who led Bengal to two consecutive Ranji finals, and Rohan Gavaskar. Coach Paras Mhambrey, too, has left to join Baroda.

A year ago, not many would have expected Laxmi Ratan Shukla to lead Bengal. But after committing to the ICL, he did a U-turn and came back — as captain.

Leading a mix of youth and experience — topped off by new coach Bharat Arun — will be a tough task. Still, he is “excited” to be leading the side in their first match of the season against Hyderabad.

“It’s always a dream to lead one’s state. I’ve been waiting for this day, so I’m very excited,” Shukla said on Saturday, the eve of the match.

Talking to reporters, the 26-year-old Shukla did not let his inexperience get in the way and volleyed questions like a pro.

About the new-look side, he said: “It’s a positive side and everybody has to prove themselves to cement their place in it.”

After playing bridesmaid for two seasons, Bengal’s target now, obviously, is the trophy. Shukla, however, said: “We are going to take it match by match, session by session. At the moment, the main thing is to get an outright win over Hyderabad.”

Bengal will go into this match with two wins — in a one-day and three-day practice match — against Hyderabad last month.

“We more or less know the team… and the wins, of course, were an added advantage,” Shukla said.

He and the coach have not had any difficulty in deciding the XII. “The toss-up will be between medium pacer (Ashok) Dinda and left-arm spinner Murtaza (Lodhgar). We’ll make a decision in the morning after seeing the condition of the pitch,” Arun said.

With curator Kalyan Mitra indicating the wicket will be spin-friendly from Day III, Murtaza’s inclusion is more likely. In that case, Shib Shankar Paul and Ranadeb Bose will look after the pace department while Sourashish Lahiri and Murtaza will spearhead the spin.

Hyderabad, who were the worst hit with eight of their players signing up for the ICL, have seven new faces in the XV-member squad. “We have eight players from the U-22 (C.K. Nayudu, South Zone) winning team… so there’s a lot of promise,” said captain V.V.S. Laxman who will be the mainstay of the middle order.

Sporadic rainfall over the past few days had got Laxman worried about the wicket. “It’s bit under-prepared… but with the rain, you can’t blame the groundsmen,” he said.

For Shukla & Co. that will not be a problem. “Batting will be our first choice if we win the toss,” said Arun.

TEAMS

Bengal (likely): Laxmi Ratan Shukla (captain), Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Arindam Das, Amitava Chakravarty, Manoj Tiwary, Anustup Majumdar, Safi Ahmed, Sourashish Lahiri, Shib Shankar Paul, Ranadeb Bose, Murtaza Lodhgar/Ashok Dinda

Hyderabad (from): V.V.S. Laxman (captain), Habeeb Ahmed (wk), Arjun Yadav, Daniel Manohar, Ravi Teja, Anoop Pai, Amol Shinde, Pragyan Ojha, Praneet Arjun, S.M. Shoaib, Ashwin Yadav, A. Lalith Mohan, Vishal Sharma, Mohammed Ahmed Shakeer, Danny Dereck Prince.

Umpires: S.K. Tarapore, V.D. Nerurkar.

Match Referee: Pratap Desai.