Shubhamoy Das of Bengal takes a shot against Tripura. Picture by Gautam Dey

Dhanbad, Feb. 11: Dhanbad has earlier proved to be lucky for cricketers like Mohammad Azharuddin, Saba Karim, Rajesh Chauhan and Abhijit Kale, all of whom, claim old-timers here, received calls to join the national team soon after playing matches in the coal capital.

Now that Dhanbad is hosting the East Zone Ranji Trophy tournament for one-dayers, the buzz is whether Dhanbad will prove lucky for former Indian captain, Sourav Ganguly, too. The coal city appears to be particularly fond of Sourav and the fans are convinced that Sourav, who arrives here tomorrow to play for Bengal, will be recalled to the Indian squad.

Former captain of the Bihar Ranji team, Avinash Kumar, recalls that a young Azharuddin had come here to play in a match for the Duleep Trophy in 1984. ?Playing for South Zone, he scored a brilliant double century against Central and got selected for the India-England series,? said Kumar here today.

Even Sourav was playing here in the Tata Invitation Tournament in 1992 when he received news of his selection in the Indian squad for the tour to Australia. He had scored a century against Orissa.

Even Abhijit Kale, whose cricketing career came to an abrupt end after he was accused of bribing selectors for a team in the national squad, was playing here for Maharashtra in a Ranji Trophy match against Bihar, when he got picked for Team India. Rajesh Chauhan, who was waiting to stage a come-back to the Indian team also got a break while he was in Dhanbad attending a camp. It is the same story for Saba Karim, insist the fans here.

S.A. Rehman of the Dhanbad Cricket Association firmly believes that the charm will work once again. ?We are confident that Sourav will get a break in the ODI squad.? As Sourav mania sweeps the coal city, Rehman even predicts that Sourav would get the good news in the next 10 days.