Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy: Anustup Majumdar Replaced Abhimanyu Easwaran as The Captain of Bengal For The Upcoming T20 Tournament

Anustup Majumdar replaced Bengal’s star batsman Abhimanyu Easwaran as the captain of the team. The Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) decided for the upcoming T20 tournament, Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. At the same time, veteran wicket-keeper batsman Shreevats Goswami was named as the vice-captain of the Bengal.

Majumdar’s brilliant performance in the last Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy brought him the captaincy of the team. However, Cricket Association of Bengal said in a statement that Anustup was appointed as a captain of the side only for the domestic T20 tournament to give rest to Easwaran from the captaincy burden.

However, many cricket experts believe that it is due to the inability of Easwaran to match the pace of the game and establish himself in the T20 format is the reason behind this decision from CAB.

Easwaran led Bengaltheithe Ranji final but he had a pathetic record with the bat, averaging just 17.20 in 10 matches with just one half-century. Whereas Majumdar proved his skills with his fantastic performance with the bat.

Anustup Majumdar scored 704 runs in the eighth match with an average of 58.66. Majumdar was just behind Manoj Tiwary (707 runs in 11 matches) in the last season.

“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 CAB said in a statement on Thursday.

“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,” added the CAB.

Former India Batsman and Veteran VVS Laxman, Bengal’s batting consultant also backed Abhimanyu to come good in Ranji Trophy overcoming his poor form in the last season.

“I don’t think captaincy will affect Abhimanyu Easwaran’s performances at all. I believe additional responsibility is much better,” Laxman said.

Bengal will begin their Mushtaq Ali Trophy campaign against Odisha on January 10. Also, Bengal will have the advantage of playing at home in the January 10-31 tournament.

Bengal Squad for Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy

Anustup Majumdar (C), Shreevats Goswami (VC), 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.