Ranji Trophy: Gharami, Abishek and Sumanta put the method in Bengal’s madness on opening day
Half-centuries by Sudip Gharami, Abishek Porel, and Sumanta Gupta placed Bengal on a decent platform despite an exhibition of reckless shots on the opening day of the Ranji Trophy Group-C match against Gujarat at the Eden Gardens on Saturday.
Inserted, Bengal was at 244 for seven when bad light stopped play nearly 50 minutes prior to the scheduled close.
On a pitch that lacked pace and bounce, experienced Gujarat seamer Chintan Gaja, who returned to the final eleven after leading spinner Ravi Bishnoi was left out, showed discipline and tested the Bengal openers in morning conditions. He provided the early breakthrough by finding Sudip Chatterjee’s outside edge.
Captain Abhimanyu Easwaran and Gharami displayed good understanding to gather runs in contrasting styles for a 67-run stand.
Gharami (56, 90b, 12×4) impressed with his drives and cuts and collected most of his runs through boundaries.
Their partnership ended when Abhimanyu was trapped lbw off Gaja.
Bengal was in for more trouble as Anustup Majumdar, who uncharacteristically lost patience after playing 13 dot balls and went for a loft, and Gharami threw away their wickets on either side of lunch against left-arm spinner Siddharth Desai.
With the pitch easing out in the middle session, Abishek (51, 71b, 9×4) and Sumanta (58 batting, 108b, 8×4) batted freely. Abishek, riding on his timing and placement, unleashed cracking drives and exquisite flicks, while Sumanta swept, cut, and pulled with authority to forge an important 83-run association.
A rash shot from Abishek ended the stand. The left-hander swept across a delivery from outside the off-stump only to be caught behind. It gave Siddharth his third wicket.
Sumanta, however, geared down responsibly to focus on running between the wickets and added 41 with Suraj Jaiswal. After scoring his second consecutive fifty, Sumanta remained unbeaten with Akash Deep at stumps.
Published on Oct 25, 2025
