Calcutta: Arnab Nandi has come home to play an away match. Complicated? Yes, it is somewhat. But then he is not the only one to face such a situation. He has Arindam Ghosh and Anustup Majumdar for company.

The trio are a part of the Railways Ranji squad which arrived in the city on Sunday for the match against Bengal, beginning Thursday. All three are from Bengal and yet ply their trade for a different team.

Arindam was here with the Railways team last season too and had also made his presence felt with decent knocks. His team, however, had lost the match.

But for Arnab and Anustup, it will be a whole new experience when the play starts at the Eden on Thursday.

Anustup’s making the final XI might not be too easy as he hasn’t been able to make use of the chances he has got this season.

But for Arnab, the game against Bengal is truly a fantastic platform to answer his critics and prove that letting him go was a big loss for the hosts.

“See, I’ve nothing against anyone in Bengal. But considering the ‘treatment’ meted out to me, I do want to win the game for Railways and prove what I’m capable of… I want to give it back,” Arnab said on Sunday.

The 27-year-old, in fact, regrets not accepting the call he had got from Railways three years ago.

“I should’ve accepted it then… Could’ve had a much better future then.

“The match against Bengal will be my maiden first-class match at the Eden, although I had made my (first-class) debut back in the 2010-11 season… It does feel strange at times.”

Arnab recalled some instances that made him take the hard decision of quitting Bengal. “Despite playing well in my Ranji debut (against Gujarat) at the Motera, I still wasn’t selected for the next game.

“Then, in the 2011-12 season when Bengal won the Vijay Hazare Trophy, I played almost all matches under Sourav Ganguly’s captaincy. But after that, I was again dropped to make space for other ‘established and experienced’ names… It’s because of all these that I decided to change allegiance once and for all,” he said.

Arindam’s performance for Railways serves as an inspiration for Arnab.

“For sure, Arindam has been an inspiration… He showed Anustup and myself the way forward…”