Manoj to lead Bengal as Ganguly decides against playing Ranji

Kolkata: Former India captain Sourav Ganguly has finally decided on not playing Ranji Trophy as Bengal`s senior selection committee decided to appoint Manoj Tiwary as the captain of the 15-member squad for first two matches against Rajasthan and Punjab.

"There is no question of playing in Ranji Trophy, if I`m not playing IPL," Ganguly has said as he is unlikely to feature in Pune`s scheme of things during the next edition of Indian Premier League. While Ganguly has made his intentions clear, one of the two CAB joint secretaries Sujan Mukherjee still wants the 40-year-old to play a few matches. "He would not play the first two matches, but depending on our team`s position we may get his services later on." "It`s youthful side but we have players with international experience. Looking forward to a positive season," Mukherjee said after the team selection in Kalyani where the selectors, coach W V Raman picked the side on the sidelines of Bengal A`s Col C K Nayudu match against Madhya Pradesh A. Manoj is back as skipper and his presence will lend solidity to the batting, while all-rounder Laxmi Ratan Shukla will be the seniormost player in the line-up. Ashok Dinda will spearhead the three-ponged pace battery that also includes Veer Pratap Singh and Sourav Sarkar besides the part-timer Shukla. In the spin department, Bengal have two left-arm spinners Iresh Saxena and first-timer Aritra Chatterjee while Arnab Nandy will double up as off-spinner and batsman. Partha Sarathi Bhattacharjee, Jayojeet Basu and Rohan Banerjee are the three openers in the side while wicketkeeper batsman Wriddhiman Saha, Anustup Majumdar and Writam Porel will be the backbone of Bengal batting. The Squad: Manoj Tiwary (c), Partha Sarathi Bhattacharjee, Rohan Banerjee, Joyjeet Basu, Writam Porel, Anustup Majumdar, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Iresh Saxena, Ashok Dinda, Sourav Sarkar, Arnab Nandy, Veer Pratap Singh, Subhamoy Das and Aritra Chatterjee. PTI