CAB puts Sairaj Bahutule, Manoj Tiwary on notice

KOLKATA: The Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) virtually put Bengal coach Sairaj Bahutule and skipper Manoj Tiwary on notice as they roped in former Bengal skipper Arun Lal as mentor of the team on Tuesday. Lal, who played 16 Test matches and 13 One-Day Internationals for the country, has agreed to take on the new role for the entire 2018-19 domestic season. However, it is not clear whether the 63-year-old will be travelling with the side for all their away matches.
CAB president Sourav Ganguly on Tuesday stated that a decision on whether to continue with Bahutule as the coach and Tiwary as skipper will be taken after Bengal's first two Ranji Trophy matches.Bengal will open their campaign against Himachal Pradesh at Amtar on November 1 and will play Madhya Pradesh at home next from November 12.
Ganguly, who had himself handpicked Bahutule as Bengal's coach in 2015, stated that a few tough decisions may have to be taken following the team's dismal performance in the recently-concluded Vijay Hazare Trophy (50-over) meet. The former India skipper, as well as other CAB officials, are disappointed with Bengal's poor results in spite of the association providing top-class facilities to the players.
Bahutule, who has not joined the team's preparatory camp that began at Jadavpur University's campus in Salt Lake under CAB Vision 2020 consultant VVS Laxman on Monday, is expected to reach the city on Wednesday morning. Laxman will miss Wednesday's practice as he will be doing TV commentary on the India-West Indies second ODI match in Visakhapatnam.
Tiwary, who is playing in the Deodhar Trophy in New Delhi, too is missing the camp.
Lal has been a stalwart of Bengal cricket and was part of the 1989-90 Ranji Trophy-winning team which triumphed after 51 years. In 2013, Lal was roped in along with Ashok Malhotra by the CAB to be part of a cricket development committee. However, that committee hardly made any impact. The former India opener had given the current crop of players a brief pep talk before the start of the season.
Lal was diagnosed with cancer in his jaw few years back, but fought valiantly to defeat the dreaded disease. He is currently in Italy and is expected back in the city on Friday after which he will interact with players individually to assess their problems before addressing them. The Bengal squad for the first two Ranji Trophy matches will be selected on Friday.