Laxmi Ratan Shukla runs out Tamil Nadu’s Abhinav Mukund at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday. (PTI)

Bangalore: The desire to tell the cricket world that they are a competent lot and good enough to play in the Elite group has pumped up the young Bengal side to perform as well as they have done in the Ranji Trophy quarter finals against Tamil Nadu.

“We want everyone to know that we are a deserving team and are good enough to play in the Super League. We are motivated by the fact that we were able to make it to the top after a poor season last year.

“Obviously, Manoj (Tiwary) and myself want to be in contention for a place in the national side. So another game would give us an opportunity to show our prowess to the selection committee. So we are determined to make ourselves count,” said Ranadeb Bose, who bowled his heart out on a flat M Chinnaswamy Stadium wicket.

“If we get an early wicket tomorrow (Sunday), we can have a go at the tail-enders and give ourselves a better chance of winning this game. We will take it session by session as the match is still very open,” said Bose.

Talking about the game plan, Bose said: “We knew that we have to bowl with discipline and make the batsmen commit mistakes. So our job was to keep the ball in line with the wicket. I am glad that all our bowlers were able to do that.

“It built pressure on the batsmen and eventually we got the top order. Once we had removed the batting mainstays (Abhinav, Vijay and Karthik), we knew we had the match in our grasp.”

How did he rate this wicket? “It is flat.

But having trained at the National Cricket Academy so often, I know this track as well as I know the Eden Gardens. Also, eleven years of first class cricket has given me the confidence and experience to bowl in such conditions,” said Bose, who is Bengal’s leading wicket-taker this season.

Mohinder Amarnath, consultant of the Bengal side, was happy for his boys.

“I am extremely happy that they have qualified for the Super League. They have worked hard as a team to achieve what they have so far. They are still a young side and are capable of doing better,” said the former Indian batsman.

Was he confident of Bengal coming on top of Tamil Nadu in this match?

“There is still a lot of time in the match. Anything can happen. What we need to do tomorrow is to get wickets early in the session. It is also important that we bat to our potential in the second innings,” said Amarnath.