Bengal spin consultant Utpal Chatterjee believes spinners need to be used as wicket-taking options in Ranji Trophy
Utpal Chatterjee is a household name in Bengal cricket. The left-arm spinner scalped 504 wickets in 129 first-class matches in a career that spanned between the mid-1980s to mid-2000s.
He is currently serving as the spin bowling consultant of the Bengal Ranji team. He feels teams don't fancy playing more than one spinner in the circuit. A three-man pace attack has worked well so far and teams are eyeing outright wins.
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However, Chatterjee understands the scenario around the cricketers who are mastering the same trade.
“Spinners are there, but teams are fielding three pacers and one or two spinners. Because of the format, every team wants an outright win and six points. If you get only first-innings lead, then you cannot qualify (to the Ranji Trophy knockouts). That's why teams are playing to their own strengths,” Chatterjee told Sportstar during Bengal’s Ranji Trophy quarterfinal encounter against Odisha
The 55-year-old feels that the introduction of Twenty20 cricket has changed the situation altogether. He feels the art of beating a batsman with guile and grip is no longer a mainstream act. Keeping a batsman in shackles and not leaking runs has becom the priority.
Chatterjee, who represented India in three ODIs, said the increase in the number of 50-over games has hampered the longer format of the game and believes that is one of the prime reasons behind not having too many spinners in the fray in red-ball cricket.