Kedar Jadhav's blazing blade will be the biggest cause of concern for a confident Bengal side that will take on Maharashtra in the quarter-final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy here tomorrow.
India's ODI specialist Jadhav has been in fantastic form since England series and no wonder Bengal captain Manoj Tiwary has plans in place for the pint-sized Maharashtra captain.
"Kedar is a proven match-winner and no doubt the most dangerous batsman in the opposition ranks. The key will be to get him out when the pacers are in operation. He is a bit fidgety at the start of his innings and the idea will be to cash in on that," Tiwary told PTI on eve of the match.
A champion player of spin bowling, Jadhav has so far scored 331 runs at a strike-rate of 143, which includes a 64-ball-113 against Delhi.
His innings had eight sixes and such was the ferocity of the knock, it prompted Delhi management to send IPL millionaire Pawan Negi on the first flight back home.
"We are playing five specialist bowlers and I have told my spinners Pragyan (Ojha) and Amir (Gani) that please check the length while bowling to Kedar. Don't give deliveries to sweep.
"He plays the conventional and reverse sweep well. We can't allow Kedar to get away. Also they have a young boy Rituraj Gaikwad, who has scored 400 runs (401 runs). Ankit has had a bad tourney but can change the game on its head," Tiwary said.
For Bengal, the group league went off well as they lost only one of their six games. Abhimanyu Easwaran, who has recently made it to the India U-23 side for ACC Emerging Trophy has scored 364 runs while skipper Tiwary is next best with 231 runs.
Bengal's playing XI is more or less fixed with Easwaran and Shreevats Goswami opening the innings. The dependable Sudeep Chatterjee will be at No 3, with the skipper coming in at No 4. Veteran Anushtup Majumdar will be playing at No 5 while Agniv Pan is the skipper's choice at No 6 ahead of Abhishek Raman for his "cheeky strokes and ability to innovate".
The three pacers will be Kanishk Seth, who has now 10 wickets in his kitty, KKR's newest recruit Sayan Ghosh and leader of the pack attack, Ashok Dinda.
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