Mohammed Shami's Brother Mohammed Kaif Included In Bengal Squad For Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy

Veteran Indian domestic batsman Anustup Majumdar has earned the captaincy role for Bengal ahead of the upcoming Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 tournament, replacing Abhimanyu Easwaran. The selectors have also picked Mohammed Shami’s younger brother, Mohammed Kaif, a seam-bowling all-rounder. Shreevats Goswami will serve as the vice-captain of Bengal for the tournament, scheduled to start on the 10th of January.

The selectors decided to hand the leadership duties to Anustup Majumdar mainly due to his red-hot touch in the Ranji Trophy last year. Majumdar single-handedly carried them to the finals. However, the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) has also pointed out that the 36-year old would the captain only for the domestic tournament. They also want to see Easwaran play freely since they feel he plays too defensively.

CAB confirmed in a statement that president Avishek Dalmiya and Hony Secretary Snehasish Ganguly spoke to Anustup Majumdar, who scored 704 runs at 58.66 in Ranji Trophy 2019-20, Shreevats Goswami and Abhimanyu Easwaran to inform them about their decisions. The statement mentioned that without the burden of captaincy, they feel Easwaran would play fearlessly and be amongst the runs. He endured a torrid run in the last season of Ranji Trophy, averaging only 17.20 in ten matches with a solitary half-century.

“CAB president Avishek Dalmiya and Hony Secretary Snehasish Ganguly today spoke to Anustup Majumdar, Shreevats Goswami and Abhimanyu Easwaran and made them aware that the decision taken is only for the length of the tournament in question. The selectors felt that without the burden of captaincy over his head Abhimanyu would be able to play more freely and deliver up to his potential,” CAB’s statement said as quoted by Hindustan Times.

Bengal Squad:

Anustup Majumdar (captain), Shreevats Goswami (vice-captain), Abhimanyu Easwaran, Manoj Tiwary, Sudi Chatterjee, Ishan Porel, Ritwik Roy Chowdhury, Vivek Singh, Shahbaz Ahmed, Arnab Nandi, Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep, Abhishek Das, Mohammed Kaif, Aritra Chatterjee, Suvankar Bal, Writtick Chatterjee, Prayas Ray Barman, Kaif Ahmed, Ravi Kant Singh.

Also Read: Misbah-ul-Haq Blames Quarantine Fatigue For Pakistan’s Poor Show Against New Zealand