What would you say, you have changed the culture among the cricketers since you joined the team as a coach. You have brought in a number of youngsters in the side and they performed under pressure. Mostly when the top order failed, the middle and lower middle order showed resilience for Team Bengal. Bowlers have shown tremendous form. What was the key? Feels like the good old days of Bengal cricket are back.
Thanks a lot Kuntal. Let me say, the coach is as good as the team. And I have the best team at the moment in Indian domestic cricket. One is that, when you have such a fabulous bunch of youngsters and experienced players in your team, it makes your job that much easier. I didn't have to do much, I made them believe in themselves, I tried to identify the areas where they had to improve and we worked really hard on those areas. We worked hard on our physical fitness, mental training and in the off season we didn't play any cricket for around two months, we didn't go anywhere. We worked extremely hard on our fitness. The boys were running in 36-37 degree heat of Kolkata in July- August. In the rains we didn't stop our practice. We after three hours of physical training used to have two hours of nets. The idea was to make ourselves the strongest team in the country which never gets tired. This is paying off now and with every good performance your confidence goes up, your belief goes up and you start playing to your potential.
People draw inspiration from Yuvraj Singh. Every one draw inspiration from the fairy tale story of Yuvy - a cancer survivor. You almost have a similar story. How after cancer your life has changed and have you passed that never say die attitude to the boys of Bengal?
I can't say but certainly I have evolved as a person. When you go through such a major ordeal you tend to change as a person. May be that has played a role in the way I have interacted with the team. But they are such a lovely bunch of boys that they are not always looking for inspiration to perform. They are willing to do well. For example, somebody like Anustup Majumdar, look at him. He is a tried and tested talent. He has scored hundreds in Duleep Trophy and Ranji Trophy before but he was dropped for three matches at the start of the season. Though he was not playing he didn't carry any negativity didn't show any disappointment, he went on the field during a match as a substitute with drinks, gave good suggestions when needed. Later when the opportunity came he batted like a true champion. This happens when you are very high on team spirit. The secret behind our success this season is team spirit.
Nobody knew about the name Shahbaz Ahmed, Akashdeep before the start of the season but now they are stars in the making. Ishan Porel has also performed extremely well again. What did you tell them at the start of the season?
It's not about telling them anything but the journey we had together. It's about the mutual trust and believing in each other. When I am not performing let my team mate perform, if you have this kind of mentality it takes the team forward. The individual is irrelevant, it doesn't matter who you are. You are a part of the team and the team has to perform and prevail. You may be a Manoj Tiwari who is a stalwart of Bengal cricket but if you are playing in the eleven and a youngster then you are as important as him. That is the culture I tried to bring in the team. You may have scored 50 thousand runs but you are equal with the youngster who is making his debut in the team. Because you are doing the same job. This sense of equality I tried to bring in and who knows perhaps that worked well.
I can still remember many years back Sourav Ganguly once had told me Arun Lal's determination was such that he could stay on the pitch and face 200 deliveries without scoring a run. Have you instilled the same kind of mentality among the boys?
Yes, but still a long way to go. I want to see players believing in themselves a lot more. We have started the process and I want to see the club cricket culture is also changing, the idea is to change the entire level of cricket in the city of Kolkata and in the state of Bengal. Every young boy or a senior cricketer must feel that if he is performing well he will be recognised.
Saurashtra or Gujarat whom you are going to face in the finals is not yet confirmed. It is going to be an away match but whoever it is, what is going to be your mantra before the Ranji Trophy finals?
Nothing new at all. We want to play cricket the way we played so far. We will focus on our strength and I know the boys will enjoy themselves in the middle and perform their heart out. We will try to do things according to the need of the game and it has got nothing to do with the individuals, if I am a batsman, this is my job and this is my role, this is what I do best. This is what I need to focus at. We shouldn't focus on the results, we shouldn't focus on winning the finals, rather we should focus on the process and the results will definitely show.
Just one last question to wrap it off. How would you describe this season in one or two words.. Is it magic, is it a fairy-tale or would you say it is the discovery of the hidden talents?
Well, I think it is a bit of all. This is the kind of cricket we are capable of playing. Although I still feel we have played below our potential. Our bowling unit has bowled fantastically well, we fielded extremely well and the result is there and that is why no team could score more than 250 runs against us in the whole season, I hope we will carry this momentum in the final match.
