Ranji Trophy: Bengal’s ageless crisis man Anustup Majumdar urges youngsters to ‘break down’ selection doors

From the press box, it is close to impossible to tell that the man commanding the crease is 41.

The silken drives through cover, the nimble bursts between the wickets, and the effortless flick of a wrist that sends the ball racing away to the fence have all stood the test of time.

Only when you stand before Anustup Majumdar do the years reveal themselves in great detail—the silver in his hair glints beneath the sun, and the lines around his eyes tell stories of seasons past.

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On Saturday, Ruku, as he is fondly called in Bengal cricketing circles, scored his 18th First-Class and 16th Ranji Trophy century. No drama, no aggression whatsoever as he went about his business. Besides his teammates’, the only other appreciation he got for the innings he had built so delicately, piece by piece, was from the few who had perhaps bunked tuitions to turn up at the Lalbhai Contractor Stadium in Surat.

Before he strapped his helmet back on, he looked down, twirled the bat in his hand to trace an imaginary circle, and tapped the ground a few times with the blade.

‘Did that mean anything?’  Sportstar enquired. He didn’t have a solid answer. “ Emni e korechilam (I did it just like that),” he put it bluntly. It would be poetic to assume it was a gesture to underscore that he belongs.

Nevertheless, Anustup was happy with how things eventually turned out on the opening day of the fourth-round Elite Group C match against his former side, Railways, despite Bengal scoring at a snail’s pace in the first session.

“It feels great, especially due to where we were when I walked in to bat. We scored 37 for three in 31 overs. There was some moisture in the wicket. But Shahbaz (Ahmed) played a wonderful innings with me. We planned on attacking, which is why we could get to 273 (at Stumps on Day 1). It’s good; I am still batting. Adding 100-150 runs further to the total will see us in a comfortable position on this wicket,” he said.

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The veteran batter’s last First-Class century had come exactly a year and two days ago in the same tournament, while playing against Karnataka in Bengaluru. The knock had earned him the Player of the Match award and given Bengal a three-point lead through a first-innings lead. Asked if he remembered the day, he smiled and said he is horrible with data and numbers. On giving a few more details, he seemed to vaguely remember a part of it.

Years have rolled by, yet the role of Bengal’s crisis man remains assigned to Anustup. And it does bother him that despite so many T20 leagues and club championships mushrooming back in Kolkata, they haven’t found a replacement who is consistent enough.

“This calls for a lengthier conversation,” Anustup said before trying to explain the situation succinctly.

He said, “The Under-23 and U-19 players, if they need to come to the senior level, have to have very good scores. Knocking on the doors of the selectors won’t do it these days; you have to break them down. Only then can you place a lot of trust in someone.

“Last year, we played Ankit Chatterjee (broke Sourav Ganguly’s 35-year-old record to become the youngest cricketer to debut for Bengal in the Ranji Trophy at just 15). He played only two matches. Whenever you get these two or three matches, you have to make the most of them. If you look at our Youth team’s performances, you wouldn’t find someone truly exceptional; there is not one batter who is consistently scoring 100s and 50s. We are a bit more experienced side if you compare us with the other teams. But I would say it is better to have experience on your side if you are playing red-ball cricket. The junior players, if they don’t come up with solid performances, how will they take up (Mohammed) Shami’s or my place, for that matter?”

Anustup has always been vocal about the Cricket Association of Bengal not having a ground of its own. While the Eden Gardens is the property of the Army, the ground in Jadavpur belongs to Jadavpur University. The Academy ground is also the University of Kalyani’s property.

On Saturday, he reiterated the same, adding, “I love to play on red soil. But we don’t get red-soil tracks where we play. But travel to areas like Birbhum, and you will get it. It is not ideal to pair the black soil with red. The base soil matters. Maybe in the future we can come up with something where the two will go well together.”

Anustup stands at the sunset of a career that has seen everything. Well, almost everything since he came close to wearing the Blues but never got to do so. His CV is otherwise sparkling with achievements—he has amassed 5,837 runs from 98 FC matches, he had turned up for the now-defunct Pune Warriors India in the 2012 season of the Indian Premier League, he played for India A in the same year, and he arguably registered the greatest knock by a Bengal batter in the Ranji Trophy when he scored a crucial 149 in the semifinals against Karnataka at the Eden Gardens to help his team enter the final against Saurashtra.

“I don’t have too many ambitions. I have always liked things simple since I was a kid,” Anustup says.

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His plans seem sorted as well. When asked if he plans to give back to the game, unlike Virat Kohli, who has decided to move out of the circuit once he calls it a day, you see Anustup’s humorous side. “I don’t have an option. Virat  bhai has money; I don’t,” he guffaws before continuing: “I did my Level-2 coaching course and passed the examination in 2023. So, let’s see… I want to be a coach. I have gotten a lot from the game. It’s time I give something back to it.”

Now and then, he makes sure to share his knowledge with the rookies in the players’ dugout. “That is something I have always done. Even if an experienced player is asking me something, I always share my thoughts. Whether he credits me later or not is a different issue, but I always try to give my 100 per cent or more because if someone does well, eventually it is good for the team. I think of this as my responsibility as a young player. Oops…” Anustup stops to laugh his heart out after he mistakenly refers to himself as a ‘young player.’

The 41-year-young batter eventually perished for 135 in the 92nd over while trying to slice Z.A. Khan over the slip cordon. A shot he relishes ended up causing his undoing. He wouldn’t mind, though; his job at the centre was long done. As he walked back to thunderous applause ringing from the dugout, he gazed up at the heavens, perhaps wondering how many summers of cricket he had left in him.

Published on Nov 09, 2025