Rohan Banerjee

Calcutta: If November 10 marked the end of an era with Sourav Ganguly’s retirement, then Eden Gardens on Monday probably saw the emergence of another southpaw from Bengal. Continuing the good form he has shown on Sunday, debutant Bengal opener Rohan Banerjee went on to score a brilliant 176 as Bengal reached 442 for six at the end of the second day of Bengal’s Ranji Trophy Plate Group B match against Services.

Skipper Laxmi Ratan Shukla gave Rohan good company and smashed a 129-ball century.

Though he missed a double century, Rohan caught the eyes of Sourav Ganguly, who paid a short visit to Eden. The 19-year old took 326 balls, hitting 22 boundaries to set up a post-independence record. His score is the highest by a debutant from the state. B.W. Malcolm of Bengal, who scored an unbeaten 181 on debut in a Ranji Trophy match against Madras in Calcutta way back in 1938-39, remains the highest.

At close, Bengal were leading by 335 runs in response to Services’ first innings total of 107. Avik Chowdhury and Ritam Kundu were at the crease.

Resuming the day at 109, Bengal openers — Rohan and Anustup Majumdar — mauled the hapless Services attack. Rohan reached his half-century hitting a boundary, Anustup followed him soon.