Kolkata: At just 19 years of age, Ishan Porel’s name is already doing the rounds in Kolkata Maidan as one of the upcoming talents in Bengal as well as Indian bowling. The youngster impressed with his pace and skill in the two matches he played in this year’s Ranji Trophy and he is already a much needed asset to the Bengal team who would play their quarter-final clash against Gujarat in Jaipur, beginning on December 7.
Porel, who is likely to make it to the Indian U-19 team for the upcoming World Cup was named in the Bengal squad for the knock-out stages as well. Although there is an air of uncertainty lurking over his availability for Bengal, CAB president Sourav Ganguly hinted that he might just be allowed to compete in the Ranji Trophy, even if he gets selected for the World Cup. The U-19 World Cup begins on the January 13 in New Zealand next year.
“The team for the World Cup would be named on December 3. Ishan might play the Ranji Trophy also because there is a lot of time left for the World Cup. Let’s see what happens,” said Ganguly, while answering the reporters on Ishan’s availability for Bengal in the quarter-finals.
Pacer Sayan Ghosh has been named as stand-by if Porel is unable to play for Bengal. Other than this, their squad remains pretty much the same. Manoj Tiwary would lead the Bengal side against the defending champions in Jaipur with southpaw Sudip Chatterjee as his deputy.
India internationals Wriddhiman Saha and Mohammad Shami also wouldn’t be a part of the team as their match against Sri Lanka ends on December 6.
Squad: Manoj Tiwary (captain), Sudip Chatterjee (vice-captain), Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shreevats Goswami, Anustup Majumdar, Abhishek Kumar Raman, Aamir Gani, Pradipta Pramanik, Ashoke Dinda, Ishan Porel, Mukesh Kumar, Kanishk Seth, B Amit, Writtick Chatterjee, Ritwik Roy Chowdhury, Saurabh Kumar Singh.