Ranji Trophy: Ganguly’s pep talk to energise Bengal, Shami back in fray

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly, who took guard for a second innings as president of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) last month, prefers a hands-on approach to cricketers whenever the opportunity arises. It was no surprise, then, that 'Dada' turned up for a first hand look at the Bengal team’s training session ahead of the domestic season on Tuesday.

Landing up at Jadavpur University's second campus in Salt Lake, the former BCCI supremo was seen engaging in a pep talk with the players. He also spent time individually with some of them, dwelling on the finer points of the game, and singled out Abhishek Porel, the lanky wicketkeeper-batter who has made the cut for India A.

Bengal, who begin their Ranji Trophy 2025-26 campaign against Uttarakhand at Eden Gardens on 15 October, announced a full strength squad on Wednesday evening, with Mohammed Shami returning to lead a formidable pace attack.

The seasoned international paceman, left out of India's ongoing Test series against a weak Caribbean team owing to fitness concerns, will get a chance to show that he is not done yet with international cricket — with World Test Championship (WTC) winners South Africa touring India next month.

Akash Deep, the India pacer who made a strong impact during the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, is also part of the squad, which will be led by Abhimanyu Easwaran with Porel as his deputy. Easwaran, a prolific scorer in domestic cricket who sat in the dugout throughout the five Tests on India's England tour, will have to prove himself once again.

The experienced Anustup Majumdar, the crisis man for the state, Sudip Chatterjee and young Sudip Gharami will be crucial in the batting line-up. Youngsters Rahul Prasad, Saurabh Kumar Singh and Vishal Bhati will aim to deliver on the big stage. Laxmi Ratan Shukla is head coach of the team while Arup Bhattacharjee and Shib Shankar Paul are the coaches and Charanjit Singh Matharu is the fielding coach.

The squad: Abhimanyu Easwaran (captain), Abishek Porel (Vice Captain/WK), Sudip Kumar Gharami, Anustup Majumdar, Sudip Chatterjee, Sumanta Gupta, Saurabh Kr Singh, Vishal Bhati, Md Shami, Akash Deep, Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal, Shakir Habib Gandhi (WK), Ishan Porel, Kazi Junaid Saifi, Rahul Prasad, Sumit Mohanta, Vikash Singh.