Kolkata goes ga-ga after Sourav Army carved tactical win against Hyderabad in Mumbai.

By Kashinath Bhattacharjee

Morning shows the day? Bengal refused to believe it on Friday the twelfth night.

The start was heartbreaking, indeed. 0 for 2 wickets, both the Bengali lads – Manoj Tiwari and Dada (Sourav Ganguly) himself – back in the pavilion within the first four deliveries. But, at the end, Kolkata were on the right side, defeating defending champions Hyderabad by 11 runs in Mumbai on Saturday night.

Gopal Bose, the former Bengal captain, was not surprised at all. “See, we have seen the worst last year. It could not have been worse. There was only one way left – to go upwards. And they just did it.”

Bose was the manager when Dav Whatmore was coaching the India U-19 team in Malayasia. They won the U-19 world cup, one and a half years back. “The team management gelled well. Sourav, the leader, Dav the coach and Wasim, the bowling consultant. Ideally, to be successful, these three people should work together with the sole aim of attaining higher feats. I know two of them personally and Wasim was too great a bowler to have as the consultant. Brilliant team work, I must say. Matthews was splendid, Owais Shah lived up to the potentials and Sourav, back as captain, was spot on. As usual, his bowling changes were marvellous. But that’s what expected of the best captain the country has ever had, is not it? When Gayle and McCulum reach, Kolkata will be exciting to watch”, Bose signed off.

Raju Mukherjee, another former Bengal captain, was elated too. “If you see the trend of Indian T20 series, it clearly reflects the fact that there is nothing called certainty in T20! In the first edition, the team with probably the lowest profile, won. In the second, the last placed team of the first beat the champions and that trend is maintained in the third edition, too. It proves T20 is totally a different ball game where there are no clear favourites. In South Africa last year, the par score was around 140-150. This time since it is played in India, teams would like to score around 160-170. The break is broken, too! Last time it was 7 and a half minutes while this time, two breaks of 2 and a half minute each. The game is evolving.”

What about Sourav’s captaincy? Raju said, “In close matches, captaincy-skill makes the difference like it did on Friday night. Look at how Sourav handled Murli Karthik, the left arm spinner. Only a captain of his calibre can think about having a slip in that stage of a T20 match. And Sourav is a player who always plays better when he is leading the side. So that was quite natural.”

Sambaran Banerjee, the selector behind Sourav Ganguly’s comeback in 1996, was happy, too. “The first match of any tournament is a bit nervy, we all know. Despite being out of cricket for the last one and half years, Chaminda showed his class in the very first over. But the comeback is memorable. To do it against last year’s champions portrays the character of the team. Yes, there are flaws. But it’s a long journey of 14 matches and this is just a beginning. And, kudos to Matthews for his splendid performances with the bat and the ball. He didn’t get the opportunity to play more matches in the first two editions. Now he has proved it would be tough to leave him out of the playing XI even when the Gayles and the McCullums reach India.”

Utpal Chatterjee, the former left arm spinner, however, was not ready to go gaga over the win against the champions. “I am happy, yes, but there are certain areas to be addressed very soon. First thing is, Indian players have to perform better. The composition of the squad here (in the championship) is, 4 foreigners, 7 Indians. So, that makes more than half of the squad for the local boys. And their performances have to be better. If they feel that the foreigners only would win them matches, it’s not right or logical thinking. Champions find a rhythm that is unmatched. They do not come back, they dominate. Coming back sounds good, but I prefer to maintain the same rhythm. In fact, Hyderabad had wonderful start in both the innings which they failed to capitalize. Anyway, it’s just a beginning and we are hopeful, the win will give Kolkata much-needed confidence to go higher.”