Struggling Tripura runs into an in-form Bengal

If history is any guide, lecture halls at the Maharaja Bir Bikram University will soon start wearing a slightly deserted look as Tripura takes on an in-form Bengal in a third-round, Ranji Trophy Elite Group-C fixture, starting on Saturday.

The stadium, a stone’s throw from the campus, doesn’t get to host many games in a year, so any cricket assumes the shape of a carnival. In early 2024, the very purpose of barbed wires here stood defeated when scores of students somehow sneaked in to catch a glimpse of local favourite and current captain Manisankar Murasingh and Vijay Shankar, then a Tamil Nadu all-rounder.

This season, Vijay Shankar dons the blue-and-white crest of Tripura, so the chants will probably get louder.

Yet the loudest cheers will be reserved for the opposition’s Mohammed Shami, who has been pressing his Test claim since returning from a prolonged injury break last November. With the kind of form he is in presently — he has picked 15 wickets in two Ranji Trophy games — his place in the squad for the home South Africa series, beginning November 14, has increasingly started to seem like a possibility.

The pitch in this part of the country, though, isn’t expected to be Shami’s ally, as the curators are expected to dole out a flat surface. “Whoever rules the roost on the first two days will take the game,” Murasingh puts it bluntly.

The visitor will be without regular skipper Abhimanyu Easwaran and pacer Akash Deep, the duo having been picked for the second unofficial Test against South Africa-A. That will see Abishek Porel take up the senior side’s captaincy for the first time.

Meanwhile, Tripura has sunk to back-to-back losses against Haryana and Services despite Swapnil Singh pocketing a seven-wicket haul and five-for. The side will hope its experienced guest players in Hanuma Vihari and Vijay Shankar start firing as well before it gets too late.