Chirag Pathak, Sagar Jogiyani slam tons as Saurashtra take Bengal bowlers to the cleaners; Pujara batting on 68

All along in the run-up to this game, Bengal had been warily preparing to dismantle the batting trio of Cheteshwar Pujara, Sitangshu Kotak and Ravindra Jadeja. These are the three names that think-tanks in the domestic cricket circles these days are dabbling with every time it comes to playing against Saurashtra. Poring over strategies to contain them. Chalking out formulae and counter-plans to get rid of them.

So, when Manoj Tiwary won the toss this morning at the Eden Gardens and lobbed the red cherry into the hands of who he (wrongly) presumed the trusted Bengal pacers, little did he know that he was basically shooting himself in the foot.

Yet again, hopes of first morning heroics from Ranadeb Bose & Co went for a toss. Saurashtra’s lesser-celebrated opening duo of Chirag Pathak (118) and Sagar Jogiyani (103) turned the inch they were given into a long mile. They took to the attack from Ball One. Mercilessly carted the Bengal quicks around, who nearly shook in their boots as a blitz unfolded.

By the time Roger Binny could get a hang of what hit him on the first day of this Ranji Trophy Super League clash, the hapless coach’s boys were left licking their wounds — their pace battery (Bose, Sourav Sarkar, Ashoke Dinda, Sourav Ganguly) with their tails between their legs. Their lone specialist spinner (Sourasish Lahiri) having lost sense of how badly his bowling was milked.

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