Ganguly to miss Bengal's match against Bihar

Sourav Ganguly will not be playing Bengal's last East Zone Ranji Trophy league match against Bihar. Talking to reporters at the Eden Gardens on Thursday, Ganguly said, "I need some rest. I have played this match because the captain and the selectors wanted me to. However, I would like to relax a little more before the next season."

The Indian captain looked clearly satisfied at achieving his best first class figures of six for 46 on the first day of the Ranji Trophy game against Orissa. However, he did not rank it as one of the best performances with the ball. He said "without offending anyone, at this level of the game I will always get a few wickets. The international experience that I have acquired will always help me to stay ahead of others. Today, I just maintained the basics of length and line and the wickets fell." However, he did admit that he felt a bit stiff after bowling 21 overs. "I knew that I would be bowling quite a few overs. So I have no complaints as far as the stiffness is concerned."

The 28-year-old Indian captain however said that the pitch at the Eden Gardens was quite a killing ground for bowlers. "I have been saying all through that unless you prepare helpful tracks for the bowlers, good bowlers will not come up. However, it seems that nobody is paying attention to my pleas." However, after a long time it was vintage swing bowling at the Eden Gardens. Ganguly had five spells of 9-2-16-2, 1-0-4-0, 4-2-5-0, 4-0-13-2 and 3-1-8-2.