At least half an hour of the game still remained when Bengal had nine Assam wickets down with a lead of just 29.
But the last-wicket pair of Abdul Ajij Kuraishi (23 not out) and Mukhtar Hussain (not out on nought) put up a defiant show and remained unbeaten, earning Assam a point from this Ranji Trophy Group C clash at the Bengal Cricket Academy ground (BCA) in Kalyani on Wednesday.
Bengal had to remain satisfied with three points even after having a great opportunity to secure an outright victory. However, despite their inability to pull off a win, Bengal are still atop the group with 23 points from five matches.
It was learnt that there’s some discontent once again over the pitch as the Bengal camp had expected more out of the Kalyani surface for their quicks in particular. A few umpiring decisions, too, have miffed Bengal. On the final day of the game, so “flat” was the pitch that the bowlers struggled to put extra pressure on the Assam batters.
Not getting a pitch suiting their fast bowlers has been irking Bengal since their Ranji opener against Uttarakhand at Eden Gardens. They did win their first two games at the Eden, beating Gujarat comfortably in their second match, but their disappointment over the nature of the Eden pitch, which was slow and aided batters more, hadn’t died down.
A seamer-friendly wicket was expected in Kalyani. But as the game progressed, the pitch started becoming “benign”, not offering much help to the bowlers.
Bengal head coach Laxmi Ratan Shukla, however, believes a better effort from his bowlers could have earned the hosts full points. “No point complaining about the pitch,” Shukla told The Telegraph late in the evening.
“We could’ve bowled a little better, and that would win us the game. If the other bowlers, too, had complemented Shahbaz (Ahmed) and (Mohammed) Shami, the result could have been in our favour.
“As for the pitch, it was a sporting wicket,” Shukla pointed out.
Shahbaz picked up four wickets with his left-arm spin, but Shami couldn’t add to the two he had taken late on Day III. Had Bengal bowlers not allowed Assam’s No.11 Mukhtar to play out as many as 24 balls, they certainly could have given a shot at chasing down 30-odd runs in the last four-five overs of the match.
Shami available
Senior pacer Shami is set to be available for Bengal in their Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy campaign. A possibility of the return of pacer Mukesh Kumar, who missed these five Ranji games, cannot be ruled out either.
Brief scores: Assam 200 & 282/9 (Denish Das 73, Sumit Ghadigaonkar 67, Sibsankar Roy 52; Shahbaz Ahmed 4/57). Bengal 442. Match drawn. Three points for Bengal.
