Ranji Trophy: VVS Laxman summoed by CAB for Bengal’s preparation

The Cricket Association of Bengal summoned its batting consultant to Nagpur and V. V. S. Laxman spent much of the four-hour net session deploying the side-arm club for throw downs.

V.V.S. Laxman was not on television roster for the third Test between India and England at Mohali and a request from the CAB President, Sourav Ganguly, has resulted in his being part of Bengal’s preparation for the match against Mumbai.

V.V.S. Laxman’s presence at the Vidarbha Cricket Association’s Civil Lines venue surprised many, but not the Bengal batsmen. They were thrilled that the former India middle-order was in the thick of action at the Bengal nets on Monday morning. The Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) summoned its batting consultant to Nagpur and Laxman spent much of the four-hour net session deploying the side-arm club for throw downs at batsmen. Laxman was not on television roster for the third Test between India and England at Mohali and a request from the CAB President, Sourav Ganguly, has resulted in his being part of Bengal’s preparation for the match against Mumbai.

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The Bengal captain Manoj Tiwary offered his view on why Laxman is here. "It’s nice of him to come here. He’s been a big influence on our batting group this season. We didn’t do well as a batting group in the last two games, but he (Laxman) has made sure that we all stick together and focus on the task at hand now. He has seen the videos of the way our batsmen got out in the previous matches and yesterday, he had a brief chat with the batters. He mentioned a few points, it was positive and the boys have understood what he has said. Today we looked a different group at nets with lot of positive vibes flowing in the team. He was also happy with whatever we were doing."

Recalling his team’s first innings win against Mumbai in a KSCA tournament at Alur in August, Tiwary said: "We will take all the positives from that match. I always believe that if your team has beaten another in a pre-season tournament, you have the one percent psychological edge because you were able to dismiss their batsmen. Mumbai had a good batting unit at Alur. So when they come out on the field tomorrow, they will be under pressure. Having said that it would be a new match, a fresh day and we have to execute our plans well."

Summing up his team’s performance so far and the chances of qualifying for the quarterfinals, Tiwary said: "As a captain I have to always fancy my team’s chances. The players have to be in a positive frame of mind and do well also. Result matters, but we always focus on the process on which the team management is working on. We are very hopeful of qualifying; we are playing three strong teams now and if we beat Mumbai, it will definitely help us."