IPL 2020 | Ranadeb Bose looks forward to a season of two contrasting halves

Very few pacers in the prime used his leap on their stride to have a distinctive delivery action and the height giving them the advantage over many contemporaries. Ranadeb Bose was quick, contrary to what East Zone selector Ranjib Biswal once suggested, but his variation stood out more often than not. A part of India’s 2007 tour of England, Ranadeb may not have donned the jersey as a playing member but cricket has done justice to him in more ways than one. He has almost taken it as a passion project to make Bengal pace-bowling great again and the current crop of fast bowlers are testimony to the same. 

As the first week of the Indian Premier League comes to a close, there is a clear trend in offer that pacers have had more impact than the spinners. Even a side like Chennai Super Kings, which depend on their spinners more than the pacers on a normal day, are benching an in-form Imran Tahir. But Bose feels that it was a careful attempt by the curators to ensure wickets will hold up for the 60 days.

“In the early stage of IPL, especially in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, the fast bowlers will have to perform and need to pick early wickets. In Sharjah, I feel, the wickets looked much drier and were flatter throughout. I am seeing it for the last 35 years, nothing has changed. It is still a batting paradise. Maybe spinners will get more advantage there right away.”

Bose worked with the likes of Akash Deep, Mukesh Kumar, Ishan Porel among others, who played an integral part in Bengal’s Ranji campaign, and it is the quest for finding the talent that makes the legend of Bose on the Bengal cricketing circuit. He is looking forward to the young talents in the ongoing IPL but is pretty disappointed with the way Umesh Yadav has bowled thus far.

“I am still disappointed with some experienced bowlers like Umesh Yadav. I don’t know what he was thinking, or what he was trying. Maybe he will take a little bit of time to get into the groove, but he didn’t look at the top of his game.”

Mohammed Shami’s emergence in Bengal cricket towards the end of the first decade of the millennium coincided with the dusk in Bose’s career. He then subsequently played the role of a mentor to the bowlers coming through the ranks and Shami has probably taken the biggest leap of them all. As he keeps on performing well for the Indian side and has become the spearhead of the Punjab line-up, Bose is extremely proud of him. Calling him “one of the most talented pace bowlers” he has seen in his life, Bose stated that Shami has come out of the Quarantine as an extremely focused individual.

“He got a huge cricket ground which he built for himself. He used to have gym sessions everyday. There were some issues in his life from which he came out in a really positive way. He seems more focused and is pushing himself mentally and physically. He is one of the most talented pace bowlers I have seen in my life. He has got a long way to go. He has done exceedingly well for India. There were questions about his quality in T20 cricket but he has answered all of that," Bose concluded.