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The Cricket Association of Bengal recently announced Bengal's senior men's team for the 2025-26 Ranji Trophy campaign. Their steady top-order batsman Abhimanyu Easwaran will captain the side. Easwaran hit three half-centuries out of five innings for India A since the last domestic season ended. His latest fifty was for Rest of India in the 2025 Irani Cup. 

Abishek Porel has been appointed as the deputy of Easwaran. The strength of the batting order will be the experience of the likes of Anustup Majumdar and Sudip Chatterjee. Promising young player Sudip Kumar Gharami has also been selected and will be relied upon to make a difference. 

The other young players in the squad are Rahul Prasad, Saurabh Kumar Singh and Vishal Bhati. Bengal's bowling department will be strengthened with the return of the fast-bowling pair of Mohammed Shami and Akash Deep, both of whom will be looking to make an early impact with the new red ball. Shami's bowling all-rounder brother Mohammad Kaif, however, is not to be found in the list. 

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Shami was last seen in India colors in March 2025 when the Men in Blue were winning the Champions Trophy title. Poor form and injuries have not made his journey for a return to international cricket easy at the moment. A decent Ranji Trophy can well turn things around. Akash Deep, however, has represented India 10 times in Tests so far. 

Former Bengal all-rounder Laxmi Ratan Shukla will remain as head coach. Arup Bhattacharjee and Shib Shankar Paul will be supporting him. Charanjit Singh Matharu has been appointed as the fielding coach. 

Bengal are seeded in Elite Group C along with Gujarat, Haryana, Services, Railways, Tripura, Uttarakhand and Assam. They will begin their campaign by playing against Uttarakhand at the Eden Gardens on Wednesday, October 15.