Laxmi Ratan Shukla with coach Roger Binny during a practice session at the Eden on Wednesday. A Telegraph picture

Calcutta: The Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) named a 15-member Bengal squad for the their first Ranji Trophy encounter against Maharashtra in Pune from November 3.

After the selection of the squad was postponed Tuesday due to difference of opinions between the selectors, the CAB president Jagmohan Dalmiya presided over the meeting Wednesday in an effort to iron things out.

However, to say that everything is fine with the Bengal team wouldn’t be right. The fact that the team has been selected only for one match indicates that it’s a sort of a wake-up call for the players. Though the CAB brass denied to admit, it is obvious that the message to the players, after their no-so-impressive performances in the season so far, is to perform or perish.

“There’s no dispute over the 15-member squad for the first match. And, we hope that the players will be able to make a comeback,” said joint secretary Biswarup Dey.

When asked why the selection was done for only one match and not for the entire season, as is the usual norm, Dey said: “I don’t want to speak about that. As of now, we have decided to select the team for only one match.”

However, he added: “Our next match is against Baroda at home and hence there’s less pressure. Had it been two away matches, we would have thought differently.”

Bengal under-22 player Arnab Nandy’s name came up during the discussion though he wasn’t included in the end. The controversial captaincy issue with Laxmi Ratan Shukla being retained in the post Tuesday without clarifying his tenure, remained foggy Wednesday too. Asked if the captain, like the team, was named for the first match only, Dey refused to comment.

The squad

Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Wriddhiman Saha, Deep Dasgupta, Arindam Das, Manoj Tiwary, Avishek Jhunjhunwala, Rohan Gavaskar, Dibyendu Chakraborty, Ranadeb Bose, Ashok Dinda, Sourav Sarkar, Sourashish Lahiri, Shib Sagar Singh, Iresh Saxena, Arindam Ghosh.