Bengal sans Tiwary, Saha prepare for tough TN test

Kolkata: Languishing at the bottom of the table, a depleted Bengal side led by former India captain Sourav Ganguly will have tough ask when they meet a formidable Tamil Nadu in their fourth round encounter at the Eden Gardens on Tuesday.

Bengal now have five points from three matches while Tamil Nadu are on eight points from three games. While Bengal's bowling let them down in the second match against Madhya Pradesh, the batsmen could hold their nerves against Haryana as they fell short by 19 runs at Rohtak. Against Gujarat, Bengal just managed to get three points. In fact Ganguly's fantastic 135 in the last match couldn't bail out Bengal as most of the other batsmen were out playing bad shots. Regular skipper Tiwary with one double and a century from two matches had been Bengal's leading run-getter with 399 runs followed by Ganguly who has scored 279 runs. Tiwary is one player who is being dearly missed as he has the penchant for playing big knocks and also likes to attack the opposition bowlers unlike some of the players who just get into the shell. There will be a single change in the Bengal line-up with Shreevats Goswami coming in place of Wriddhiman Saha who is leaving for Australia on December 8. In Abhinav Mukund and Murali Vijay, Tamil Nadu have a strong opening pair and with wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik in the middle-order, Tamil Nadu will certainly be tough opponents. Currently in the fourth position, Tamil Nadu took three points against Haryana and Delhi, while in a rain-marred tie against Baroda fetchem them two. But with the inspirational Ganguly at helm, Bengal will look to wriggle themselves out of the danger zone, making full use of the home condition. Bengal will also look forward to the inputs from coach W V Raman under whom the Tamil Nadu side was groomed. PTI