Laxmi Ratan Shukla is given the responsibility of the senior team coach of Bengal. According to CAB sources, Laxmi’s name was officially announced last Tuesday. Along with that, W V Raman is joining as Bengal’s batting consultant.
Laxmi’s performance as cricketer
A warrior has trained the Bengali team for so long. He is Arun Lal. After Arun left the responsibility, the responsibility of Bengal was handed over to another ‘fighter’. Bengal started playing fearless cricket under his leadership. Laxmi has played 137 matches in first class cricket. Scored 6217 runs. 172 wickets. Played 141 matches in List ‘A’ cricket. Run 2997. There are 143 wickets in the ODI format as well. Played eighty-one matches in T20. He got 47 wickets along with 994 runs. He also played three ODIs for India. Got one wicket.
It was Laxmi Ratan’s all-round performance that won the Vijay Hazare Trophy for Bengal. He took four wickets against Mumbai in the 2012 final. He came down to bat and gave the trophy to Bengal from 106 runs off 90 balls. The coach at that time was W V Raman. It was under his tutelage that Bengal won the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy under the leadership of Manoj Tiwari in 2010-11. Raman was behind the scenes of winning Bengal’s last two trophies. Can he win the trophy after returning to Bengal as a batting consultant? Let’s see!
Laxmi was in coaching till now. He was training the U-25 team. This time after Bengal’s elimination from the semi-finals of the Ranji Trophy, it was heard that Arun Lal was going to step down and someone who understood the emotions of Bengali cricket was expected to take over the coaching duties. No one was heard of more qualified than Laxmi Ratan for this responsibility. Finally, CAB put the responsibility on his shoulders. Time will tell how far the Laxmi-Raman pair can once again take Bengal cricket forward. However, Bengali cricket community is happy because Laxmi is the coach.
Arun Lal’s coaching has improved the fitness of Bengal cricketers. They played the Ranji Trophy final once. Nearly won the trophy. But he has created an unyielding mentality among Abhimanyu-Iswaran team. One of the best pace departments in the country belongs to Bengal. The cricketers of the rest of the state have started to fear the trio of Ishan Podel, Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep. Shahbaz Ahmed also rose to prominence in Indian cricket. With them, Laxmi will try to give the trophy to Bengal.
Wriddhi to Chief Minister: I can come back to Bengal
Indian wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha was honoured with the Bangabhushan Award. Being honoured with this award, Wriddhiman told the Chief Minister of Bengal, Mamata Banerjee, that he can return to Bengal again if he gets a chance. However, in which role he wants to return, Wriddhi did not say openly. Later he said about this, “After receiving the award, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee asked me whether I am playing for Bengal this time.”