Bengal aim to recoup from Ahmedabad reverse

Match facts

Oct 25, 2008
Start time 7.30pm (1400 GMT)

Big Picture

It's the battle of Bengal. Royal Bengal Tigers, from Kolkata, started the ICL's second season with a bang, winning three games on the trot, but suffered a ten-wicket mauling at the hands of the Ahmedabad Rockets in their previous game. Not very far from Kolkata is Dhaka, and the Warriors would be looking to continue from their win over the Delhi Giants, having lost their first two games.

Bengal have relied heavily on their overseas stars so far in the tournament. The batting has largely revolved around New Zealanders Hamish Marshall and Craig McMillan, their captain, while Sri Lankan legspinner Upul Chandana has been their strike bowler. After an impressive start, however, matters fell apart for against Ahmedabad. As a positive, McMillan might think his team have got that one bad game behind them.

Dhaka's batting, apart from a sparkling hundred by Alok Kapali, was disappointing in their first two games. They managed to fire in unison against Delhi, rattling up a total of 174 - the best so far this season. On the bowling front, it's the two left-arm spinners, Mohammad Rafique and Mosharraf Hossain, who have kept the opposition batsmen in check. However, the medium-pacers have been unable to tie down the runs; there have also been reports that the ICL have approached other players to further boost the Dhaka roster.

Players to watch

Lance Klusener has gone about his job quietly in the tournament, with nothing spectacular yet, but one man is all praise. "He is as fit as a fiddle and is playing as good cricket as I have seen him play," Darryl Cullinan, his former South African team-mate and now coach at Bengal, wrote in the Weekender. "He ran a brilliant bleep test -- an athletic test during which a players runs continuous shuttles between two markers 20m apart. The time allowed between each shuttle becomes progressively shorter. It is murderous and designed to bring you to your knees. At the age of 37 Klusener got to a brilliant level 13. I wonder how many of our national players achieve this?"

Nazimuddin's 54 set up Dhaka's win over Delhi, and more of the same would be expected of him against Bengal. Opening the innings, he could again set his Dhaka up with the right momentum. In his first international tournament for Bangladesh, he had made a 50-ball 81 against a Pakistan attack that included Mohammad Asif and Shoaib Akhtar.

Habibul Bashar has scored 33 runs in three innings so far, at a not-so-impressive strike-rate of 94.28. Surely, something better is needed to lead from the front.

With the overseas players stealing the show so far, the time is right for the likes of Rohan Gavaskar to step up. He hit 30 off 12 balls against the Mumbai Champs - it proved to be crucial later - but maybe a promotion up the order is needed.

Quotes

"I am satisfied with my captain [Craig McMillan] and coach [Daryll Cullinan]. I hope they carry on their form till the very end."
Royal Bengal Tigers' owner Mithun Chakraborty gives his thumbs up to the team management

"I am looking to him to produce some vintage Klusener stuff and further convince me that South Afria could do with him to plug a hole or two in their limited-overs squads."
Cullinan can't get enough of Klusener