Five greatest international cricketers from West Bengal

West Bengal has always been a hub of sporting activities in the country. Though football remains the most followed game here, cricket is played and discussed with seriousness at every nook and corner of the land. It is not a matter of surprise, therefore, to see the state producing quality cricketers at both domestic and international levels regularly.

At present, Bengal has a more than decent Ranji team capable of punching above its weight. It is also home to two-time Indian Premier League (IPL) champions and one of the most popular teams in the league, Kolkata Knight Riders. Among the current lot of players, Mohammed Shami has established himself as the first choice pacer in both forms of the game for Team India while Manoj Tiwary is fast emerging as a responsible middle order bat in the ODIs. Another state lad, Wriddhiman Saha is Indian cricket team’s first choice wicketkeeper in Tests.

Let us now take a look at the five greatest cricketers of all time from West Bengal. Though the state has produced a number of domestic cricket giants, this list includes only those players who have gone on to represent India in the international arena.

Sourav Ganguly

Unarguably the greatest cricketer from West Bengal, Sourav Chandidas Ganguly was Indian cricket’s Che Guevara. He was a revolutionary captain who instilled killer instincts into Indian players and taught them to win abroad. Taking over the reins of the team at a time when the image of Indian cricket had taken a dent following match fixing allegations against some of its players and a home series defeat against South Africa in 2000, Ganguly ushered in a new hope with his firebrand style of captaincy.

Under his stewardship, India registered Test victories in England (Headingley, 2002) and Australia (Adelaide, 2003), besides claiming a maiden series win on the soil of Pakistan in 2004. With 11 overseas wins, he is still India’s most successful captain abroad. He led India to World Cup final in 2003. He was also instrumental in shaping the careers of youngsters such as Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh and Virender Sehwag who went on to serve Indian cricket with élan in the following years.

Ganguly, who comes from an affluent family of Kolkata, was a batsman par excellence too. The southpaw’s strokeplay oozed class and elegance. Former English opener and commentator Geoffrey Boycott referred to him as the prince of Kolkata while his teammate Rahul Dravid termed him ‘god of the off side’.

With a tally of 7212 runs at 42.17 from 113 Tests and 11363 runs at 41.02 from 311 ODIs, Dada, as he is fondly called, is regarded as one of India’s most prolific run scorers of all time.

Pankaj Roy

Pankaj Roy played 43 Tests

Pankaj Roy was the first cricketer from West Bengal who made it big on the international stage. A right-handed batsman, he is best remembered for his world-record opening stand of 413 runs with his partner Vinoo Mankad in a Test against New Zealand in Chennai in 1954-55. The record stood for 54 years before it was toppled by South African openers, Graeme Smith and Neil McKenzie, in 2008.

Roy made a hundred in his first-class debut for Bengal at the age of 19 in 1946-47. This brought him on the radar of national selectors and he was handed over an Indian Test cap during the 1951-52 home series against England. He started his Test career promisingly with a couple of centuries in that series. He failed to repeat his heroics when India toured England the following year, but he came back well with a string of good scores against the West Indies at home and New Zealand abroad.

In total, the bespectacled opener played 43 Tests, aggregating 2442 runs at 32.56 with the help of five centuries and nine fifties. He had a watertight technique and could bat for hours on end without losing concentration. His son, Pranab Roy, also played two Tests for India.

Mohammed Shami

Though Shami originally hails from Amroha district in Uttar Pradesh, he has played all his domestic cricket for Bengal. Since making his debut against Pakistan in an ODI match in 2013, he has established himself as Team India’s premier new ball bowler. So far, he has taken 86 wickets at 30.87 from 25 Tests, besides claiming 91 scalps at 24.69 in the ODIs.

What makes Shami one of the most difficult bowlers to face is his ability to extract swing and movement off the wicket with both the new ball and the old. He was India’s leading wicket taker in the 2015 ODI World Cup where he claimed 17 wickets at 17.29 with an economy of 4.81. His bowling was at the heart of India enjoying an unbeatable run on their way to the semi-finals where they lost to the eventual winners, Australia.

Shami is only 26 and, therefore, has years of on-field glory awaiting him. If he continues to bowl the way he has been doing for the last couple of years, there is every chance of him finishing as one of India’s all-time greatest pacers.

Wriddhiman Saha

Primarily a keeper, Saha has done well with bat too

For the better part of his 20s, Saha had to sit out of the Indian cricket team, thanks to the presence of charismatic wicketkeeper-batsman, Mahendra Singh Dhoni. However, post the retirement of Dhoni from Tests in December 2014, Saha has emerged as India’s first choice wicketkeeper in the red ball cricket.

In the last couple of years, he has received accolades galore for both his wicketkeeping and batting. His glove work has been neat and he has chipped in with useful runs down the order. In the last home season where India won 10 of 13 Tests, Saha reached three figures thrice with only Kohli (5) and Pujara (4) having more centuries against their names.

The 32-year old stumper has 1112 Tests runs at 32.70 from 28 matches in addition to his collection of 56 catches and 10 stumpings behind the wicket. He has not been able to make much of an impression in the limited-overs cricket as evidenced by his poor tally of 41 runs at 13.66 from 9 games, but he has proved a more than capable hitter in the IPL.

Arun Lal

Lal may be known to younger audiences for his commentary more than his playing career

Arun Lal was born in Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, but he played the majority of his cricket in Bengal. He came from a family with cricketing pedigree with his father, uncle and cousin all having performed admirably in the Ranji Trophy. He was not the most gifted of cricketers, but what he had in abundance was an ability to sweat and toil.

Lal played 16 Tests for India between 1982 and 1989 in which he compiled a total of 729 runs at 26.03 with the highest score of 93.

Though his record appears moderate at the international level, he was among one of Bengal’s top-drawer batsmen in the domestic circuit. In his last year of domestic cricket in 1989-90, he helped Bengal lift the Ranji Trophy after 51 years with his most notable contribution being an innings of 189 that stymied Bombay’s progress in the quarterfinals.

Arun Lal has been active as a commentator and column writer for various newspapers since his retirement from the game. His voice commands a great deal of respect in the cricketing fraternity.