Calcutta: The man who has done the spadework for many a Bengal victory in the last few seasons, is seeking answer to an important question — What more does he need to do to be noticed by the national selectors?

And why not? Ranadeb Bose has once again steered Bengal to an emphatic victory. He did it Friday with his second five-wicket haul of the match, against Maharashtra in Pune. He finished with overall figures of 10 for 124.

Reminded that this was his seventh 10-wicket haul in first-class cricket, Ranadeb said: “Can’t deny that I’m very happy with my performance.”

Asked what motivated him to keep performing tirelessly, the tall medium pacer said: “I only look up to the next game. What else is there? In spite of taking wickets regularly, I’m not even selected for the Board President’s XI team or the Challenger Trophy.”

“I’m proud just to represent Bengal and want to keep doing that in the future as well,” he added. He also expressed satisfaction at the fact that he has done “justice” to his selection in the Bengal team, saying: “When I was dropped for one match in Dhanbad (In the East Zone T20s), it might have been the indication that you need to perform to be in the team. With this show, I’m glad that I have proven myself.”

He, however, added: “All the pre-season talk of us not performing well is not right. We were in the process of building a team in the pre-season meets. Those performances should not be compared to the actual season.”

Opener Deep Dasgupta, who contributed a handsome 54 in Bengal’s chase, echoed Ranadeb: “There’s a definite difference between the pre-season period and the actual one. But anyway, it’s good to have performed in this match as we were under some pressure. It’s all about playing well for Bengal.”