Bengal-Mumbai Ranji tie promises keen competition

Kolkata: A keen competition is on the cards as Bengal take on champions Mumbai in their second Ranji Trophy super league tie at Eden Gardens here on Wednesday.

Though both Bengal and Mumbai started the season well bagging three points against Delhi and Saurashtra respectively in their first outings, Mumbai who have won this coveted trophy for a record 39 times earlier, looked more confident than their hosts. "It will be well contested match which we want to win," Ajit Agarkar, the most experienced Mumbai player, said.Mumbai skipper Wasim Jaffer is in fine form having scored a century in each innings of their match against Saurashtra. Besides, Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane are there to add to their batting strength. The visitors also have an edge in bowling with veteran Agarkar leading the pace attack along with Abhisek Nayar and Dhawal Kulkarni and Aavishkar Salvi while Ramesh Power and Iqbal Abdullah are likely to take charge of spin department. Jaffer said his side would announce their first eleven tomorrow morning before the match. Bengal coach W V Raman said, "We will try to play according to our strength. We have started well which gave a boost to our morale." "The playing eleven will be decided tomorrow after having a final look on the pitch before the start of the game on Wednesday morning," he said.Bengal skipper Manoj Tiwari said the home team is not complacent. "Mumbai have won this trophy for so many times and are a very strong side. We want to keep up the momentum we got after Delhi match," he said. Apart from Tiwari, the hosts will depend on opener Arindam Das who scored 156 against Delhi to help Bengal get three points against Delhi. Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Rohan Banerjee and wicketkeeper-batsman Wriddhiman Saha are also there to lend able support. In bowling, the hosts` pace attack would be spearheaded by experienced Ranadeb Bose, who bagged 11 wickets when Mumbai last played their Ranji match against Bengal in 2006, and Ashok Dinda. PTI