Bengal plays Goa in Ganguly’s swansong

NEW DELHI: Sourav Ganguly’s final appearance in first-class cricket would be the highlight of the Bengal-Goa Ranji Trophy plate league match at the Karnail Singh Stadium here.

A huge media turn out at the venue on the eve of the semifinal fixture indicated the significance of Ganguly’s presence in a match that would decide which of the two teams qualifies for the Elite grade next season.

Goa has never travelled thus far and a victory would mean making history for the underdog. But Bengal has much at stake.

“I had agreed to play this match to help Bengal qualify for the elite group. I vividly remember my debut season (1989-90) and have some fond memories of domestic cricket. It has been a long journey,” said Ganguly.

The teams (from): Bengal: Laxmi Ratan Shukla (captain), Sourav Ganguly, Rohan Banerjee, Manoj Tiwary, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Avik Chowdhury, Ashok Dinda, Ritam Kundu, Sourav Sarkar, Dibyendu Chakraborty, Ranadeb Bose, Anustup Majumdar, Iresh Saxena, Avik Mullick and Soham Ghosh.

Goa: Swapnil Asnodkar (captain), Aditya Angle, J. Arunkumar, Saurabh Bandekar, Robin D’Souza, Shadab Jakati, Sagun Kamat, Advait Katkar, Ryan Ninan, Ajay Ratra, Santosh Shinde, Rohit Asnodkar, Harshad Gadekar, Ambey Parvatkar, Ankit Desai and Ryan D’Souza. — Special Correspondent