Calcutta: Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) officials and selectors are unanimous in their belief that the show must go on, despite Indian Cricket League (ICL) luring away some of their top players.
The Telegraph on Monday spoke to Bengal’s chief selector Arup Bhattacharya and his colleagues Barun Burman, Kalyan Chowdhury and Saradindu Mukherjee as well as CAB joint secretary Amitava Banerjee on the issue and their common consensus remains that though Bengal’s progress in the upcoming season may be affected initially, there is a young bench strong enough to fall back on and overcome the crisis.
Following are the excerpts (alphabetically):
Amitava Banerjee (joint secretary): Those who have left for the ICL are mature people and so, there’s no point of interfering in their decisions. It’s not an issue for us at all. I must say that no one is indispensable and Bengal will not be weakened by their absence. We have a solid bench, which proved its worth when we had emerged champions in the under-22 meet last season.
Arup Bhattacharya: We have lost a few valuable players in Deep Dasgupta, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Avishek Jhunjhunwala, Subhamoy Das. No doubt, it’s a loss at the moment. They all have played at the national levels and know the difference between right and wrong. However, it’s also an opportunity for the youngsters waiting in the wings.
Barun Burman: It is a big setback for Bengal cricket as three or four of the stars have left. These are the set of players who lifted Bengal to the title-round twice in succession. I personally feel that Laxmi and Subhamoy can’t be replaced right now... In fact, these players cannot be replaced at one go.
Seen from the positive perspective, the reserves now have a chance to gain experience and shoulder more responsibility. However, unless the juniors step into the Laxmis’s shoes on a confident note, Bengal will find it difficult to survive in the Elite Group.
Kalyan Chowdhury: The exodus of some of the key players to the ICL is bound to have an impact on Bengal cricket. Deep’s absence can be filled up but you cannot replenish the vacuum created by Laxmi’s departure. Laxmi is a terrific allrounder and served Bengal for a number of years. Subhamoy also has been a consistent performer.
On a brighter side, though, Manoj Tiwary has come up and performed superbly in the last season. I hope someone hogs limelight in similar fashion this season.
Saradindu Mukherjee: Bengal have lost some of their experienced hands and now we will have to look for younger talents to replace them. It’s not that we don’t have talent… we are the under-22 champions and many from that side would walk into the senior team now. But it’s a setback for the time being. I understand the players have taken the decision consciously before joining the ICL. But the show must go on…
