CALCUTTA (India): The Bengal selectors may have stirred a controversy by dropping veteran pacer Ashok Dinda, but team’s spin consultant Utpal Chatterjee said the fast bowler will bounce back.
The 35-year-old was dropped from a 16-member Bengal squad for the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy last weekend.
Upset and annoyed with this ‘humiliation’, Dinda was contemplating goodbye to Bengal cricket.
“Dinda has served Bengal cricket for a long time. His contribution is appreciated, but there’s still some more years of cricket left in him. I would also like to see him bounce back and prove his effectiveness,” Chatterjee told Khelupdates.com at his residence on Wednesday.
While it seemed the decision to drop Dinda was done to promote youngsters, sources say that most of the senior cricketers are not too happy with coach Arun Lal.
25-year-old and former India U-19 medium-pacer Ravi Kant Singh has been added to the side besides Sayan Ghosh and Ayan Bhattacharjee.
No comments on Dinda-Arun Lal controversy
But Chatterjee, one of the key members of the victorious 1989 Ranji Trophy-winning team, maintained a distance from the Dinda-Arun Lal controversy that’s brewing in Bengal team.
“If he (Dinda) retires, it’ll convey a wrong message to fans and selectors. It’ll damage his reputation,” added the 55-year-old, who played three One-day Internationals in 1995.
Dinda was the leading wicket-taker for Bengal in the 2018-19 Ranji Trophy, with 28 dismissals in eight matches.
“I can’t say what has happened in the team, but senior cricketer like Dinda must wriggle out of such issues,” said Chatterjee, who retired in 2004 with 504 first-class wickets.
On the youth policy that Bengal cricket has undertaken to bolster the future, Chatterjee said, “Grooming juniors is a long-term process to produce performance-oriented players. Ramakant Achrekar spotted Sachin Tendulkar from among a group of young players. Patience is the key as it takes time to find really talented cricketers.”
Good copy & narration.