"After 27 years, I hope this is our year": Bengal assistant coach Joydeep Mukherjee
After a lukewarm outing in the Ranji Trophy last season, the Bengal cricket team bounced back strongly this time around, making it to the knock-outs for the fifth time since 2005.
Considering the more compressed nature of the tournament, the 2017 resurgence was hard fought but eventually achieved due to some impressive performances from the openers and the front-line seamers.
Only earlier this week, the team stomped their way into the semi-finals, stamping their authority over the defending champions Gujarat - a side that turned hapless in the face of Bengal's batting assault at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium in Jaipur.
Ahead of the final four fixture against Delhi on Sunday, Joydeep Mukherjee finds himself in the thick of things. A former first-class cricketer & member of the Kolkata Knight Riders support staff, Mukherjee is currently the Assistant Coach of the Bengal side, doubling up as their Director of Cricket Operations.
Sportskeeda caught up with him for an exclusive tête-à-tête, where he opened up about the campaign so far, the prospects of facing Delhi in the must-win encounter and the future of cricket in Bengal:
A lot has worked out for Bengal this year after a rather forgettable last season. What are your initial thoughts?
I'd like to believe that the Bengal team have played some very consistent cricket, not just this year but for the past three years.
Two years ago, we lost the quarter-finals of the Ranji Trophy; last year, we missed out on a play-off berth as a game got abandoned in Delhi due to smog. Don't forget, Bengal played the final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy last season - so it wouldn't be fair to call it a forgettable year by any stretch of the imagination.
We are hopeful, doing the hard miles and thinking bright this year, as we are already playing the semi-finals of the Ranji Trophy.
The hard work and outstanding work ethic put in by head coach Sairaj Bahutule, bowling coach Ranadeb Bose, and the rest of the support staff is beginning to yield results. As always, the unrelenting support of our state association deserves a special mention.
While coaches play a critical role off the field, on the field, it's left to the experience of seasoned players to guide the team. What's the kind of influence that some of the senior players in the Bengal side have on the younger ones?
They have been pillars of support. Manoj Tiwary, Ashoke Dinda, Wriddhiman Saha, and Mohammed Shami have all had a tremendous influence on a very young team.
Barring them and Anustup (Majumdar), the others are very young and have played only a handful of games. This is why the senior players mingling and sharing their experiences serve as a huge source of motivation and encouragement.
For a young Ishan Porel or Kanishk Seth to pick Dinda or Shami's brain can only do wonders. And the same goes for a young Abhishek Raman or Writtick Chatterjee keeping Manoj and Wriddhiman busy with their questions.
One of Bengal's rising stars Abhimanyu Easwaran impressed everyone yet again this year. What do you think of his rise? Are the team exploring options to play him down the order to bolster his chances of playing for India?
Abhimanyu is a special player with great work ethic and a stable head on his shoulders. He got a hundred in both innings against a very strong Uttar Pradesh team last year and repeated the feat against Gujarat in the quarter-final; we can safely say that he loves to bat in Jaipur.
He has always been an opener and enjoys the role, opening for us in all formats. As far as national selection is concerned, if he keeps performing it's only a matter of time.
After Pragyan Ojha's return to Hyderabad, an apparent weak link in the Bengal side is the absence of an experienced front-line spinner. How is the team planning to deal with that?
Someone of Ojha's caliber is hard to replace. Having said that, there has been a Vision 2020 programme in place for the past few years and what that has done is that it has looked after the current players and gotten the next ones in line, ready.
So, to answer your question, young spinners Aamir Gani, Pradipta Pramanik and a few others have been worked on to get them ready. These two have played for India Under-19s which is further confirmation that they are special. Moreover, both of them have had very good starts to their Ranji careers.
You are up against Delhi next, and the last time you faced them in the Ranji Trophy, tempers flared. Will the memories of the Tiwary-Gambhir face-off act as a needle to get the players all fired up?
These things happen on the spur of the moment and are soon forgotten. They are both professionals, and I am sure, have moved on. A Ranji semi-final is a pretty good reason to be fired up, and with most of the boys playing such a high profile game for the first time, I am sure they will come out all guns blazing.
If you do reach the finals, it will be Bengal's first in over a decade. It's been over 25 years since the team last won the Ranji Trophy. What do you think has prevented them from becoming a powerhouse like Mumbai?
Yes, it has been a while, and hopefully, this will be our year. This is a very good question and I don't have a ready answer. The state association has always backed the players and given them whatever they needed. That continues now and the leadership at the Cricket Association of Bengal have left no stone unturned in making sure Bengal cricket improves.
Also, apart from the seasoned campaigners like Saha, Shami, Manoj & Dinda, we have had Sudip (Chatterjee), Easwaran, Gani, and Shreevats (Goswami) play for India A in recent times - a clear sign that we are moving in the right direction.
Who do you think are the players to watch out for in the Delhi camp, and who is that one player who can be Bengal's X-factor in the semis?
Gautam Gambhir straight away springs to mind. Rishabh Pant can be dangerous with the bat and young Navdeep Saini with the ball.
For Bengal, it will not be fair to name anyone because this year everyone has contributed. But if you insist, I will go with Manoj Tiwary.
Lastly, a word on Ishan Porel, someone you identified as a serious talent quite early on. How much do you think this Ranji experience will help him when he turns out for India U-19?
I was a junior selector at the time and he was very new to the city. We knew he was special and made sure that he got what he needed. Since then he has just come through the ranks of junior cricket and is currently in the India U-19 team due to play the World Cup. This experience will definitely help him.