The country's center for athletic endeavors has always been West Bengal. Although football is still the sport that gets the most attention in this state, cricket is played and talked about seriously everywhere. Therefore, it is not surprising to see the state consistently producing top-notch cricketers at the domestic and international levels. Bengal currently features a Ranji team that is more than respectable and capable of punching above their weight. The Kolkata Knight Riders, one of the most well-known teams in the Indian Premier League (IPL), are also based there. Manoj Tiwary is quickly establishing himself as a reliable middle-order hitter in ODIs. In contrast, Mohammed Shami has established himself as Team India's first-choice pacer in both of the game formats. In Test matches, Wriddhiman Saha, a fellow state boy, is the Indian cricket team's first-choice wicketkeeper. The ten best cricketers from Bengal are listed below.
1. Sourav Ganguly
Former Kolkata Knight Riders captain Sourav Ganguly led his hometown team. He was in charge of leading Kolkata for their first three seasons. Up to 2012, he participated in 59 IPL matches and scored 1349 runs. Gautam Gambhir succeeded him as captain in 2011 and steered the other ship for seven exhausting years. He has been the most vibrant and popular player in the Indian Premier League's first few seasons. He later changed teams and joined Pune Warriors India for their last IPL 2012 campaign.
2. Pankaj Roy
Pankaj Roy was the first West Bengali cricketer to achieve notable success on the world stage. He was a right-handed batsman who set a world record opening partnership of 413 runs with Vinoo Mankad during a Test match against New Zealand in Chennai in 1954-1955. Before being broken in 2008 by South African openers Graeme Smith and Neil McKenzie, the record stood for 54 years. At 19, in 1946-47, Roy made 100 runs for Bengal in his first-class debut. As a result, he attracted the notice of the national selectors, and he was handed an Indian Test cap for the 1951-52 home series against England. He had a promising Test debut with two centuries in that series. When India visited England the following year, he could not match his feats of brilliance. Still, he bounced back strongly with a succession of impressive performances against the West Indies at home and New Zealand abroad. The eyeglass-wearing opener participated in 43 Test matches, scoring 2442 runs at an average of 32.56 using five hundred and nine fifty-pluses. He could bat for an extended period, without losing focus because of his impenetrable technique. His son, Pranab Roy, also participated in two Test matches for India.
3. Mohammed Shami
The West Bengal team's star in the domestic circuit at one point was the current captain of the Indian Cricket Team's leading bowler. Shami has a contract with the Gujarat Titans, a brand-new team, and is a member of Hardik Pandya's coaching staff. He had previously played for Delhi Daredevils, Kolkata Knight Riders, and Punjab Kings. Shami was given a few opportunities by his home team KKR in his first season, but he was later signed by Delhi for the following season, where he demonstrated his true bowling abilities. To understand why Shami is such a wicket-taking machine, you need to study the qualities that make him a devastating bowler.
4. Manoj Tiwary
According to his IPL experience, Manoj Tiwary is now ranked No. 4. He made his debut for the Delhi squad, but after a few seasons, he switched to the Kolkata Knight Riders, who play at home. He is one of the rare cricketers who has scored a ton of runs at every level but couldn't keep up the form for an extended period. Manoj has played in 98 IPL games and has a respectable average of 28.7 runs per game while scoring 1695 runs. In the year 2018, he announced his resignation from the IPL.
5. Laxmi Ratan Shukla
Laxmi Ratan Shukla was selected for the national team in 1998-1991 for the Asian Test Championship match against Sri Lanka. He had taken 3 for 55 and 1 for 32 against Pakistan for the Indian Board President's XI when he was just 17 years old. Instead, Ashish Nehra, who was unexpectedly flown in, played his first test. His first ODI appearance came a month later. He participated in three ODIs, opening the bowling in two of them. Shukla had an economy rate of 4.94 while managing one wicket, but he never found his footing at the plate. The Howrah-born person was also never allowed to participate in the game's most extended format. Shukla's legacy, however, is in domestic cricket, where he played for nearly 20 years, compiling 6,217 runs at an average of 36 and 172 wickets at a strike rate of 35. When Shukla crossed 250 and combined with Wriddhiman Saha to score 417 runs for the sixth wicket against Assam in 2010-11, he had completed his magnum opus. Bengal's best wicket-holding effort has continued to be this one. Shukla had a 7.11 economy and a 121-strike rate in the IPL while playing for the Delhi Daredevils and Kolkata Knight Riders. Surprisingly, he wasn't given more consideration for T20Is given how good he is in the game's shortest format.
6. Wriddhiman Saha
The West Bengal cricketer with the third-most IPL victories is the wicketkeeper-batsman. In his IPL career, he has participated in 133 games, which is the most of any player on the list. He played his first game for KKR, the host team, in the IPL 2008 season. Although his first two seasons were not outstanding, he later took off and began consistently playing well for his clubs. He later joined Gujarat Titans after being signed by Chennai Super Kings, Punjab Kings, and Sunrisers Hyderabad.
7. Ashok Dinda
The host team, Kolkata Knight Riders, established Ashok Dinda during the IPL 2008 preliminary competition. But he could not remain there for very long; after making his cricket debut for India in 2009, his flamboyance escalated. The Delhi Daredevils later picked him up and assisted him with the remaining phase of his journey. His extraordinary bowling motion will be what his devoted cricket fans remember him for the most.
8. Arun Lal
Even though Arun Lal was born in Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, the majority of his cricket matches were played in Bengal. His father, uncle, and cousin all had commendable performances in the Ranji Trophy, indicating that he comes from a cricket-inclined family. Although he wasn't the most talented cricket player, he had a lot of hard work ethic. Between 1982 and 1989, Lal participated in 16 Test matches for India, scoring a best of 93 and totaling 729 runs with a strike rate of 26.03. Although his record at the international level appeared to be average, he was among Bengal's top batters on the home circuit. In 1989-1990, his final season of domestic cricket, he assisted Bengal in winning the Ranji Trophy for the first time in 51 years. His most memorable contribution was a 189-run innings that prevented Bombay from moving on to the quarterfinals. Since leaving the game, Arun Lal has been a columnist and commentator for several newspapers. The cricketing community respects him greatly for his voice.
9. Shute Banerjee
At 19, Banerjee played his first first-class match for an "Indians and Anglo-Indians in Bengal" squad against the visiting MCC. In 1935-36, he took five for 53 for a combined Bengal and Assam squad against Jack Ryder's Australian team. His 385 wickets were collected at an average of 26.68, compared to his 3,715 runs, which included five hundred, at a 20.63 average. He missed Bengal's first-ever Ranji Trophy game as well as the 1936 England tour since he was selected for the third unofficial test against the same team. Banerjee was not permitted to play in any of the Test matches because Mohammad Nissar, Amar Singh, and Jahangir Khan were all fast bowlers. At 37, he eventually made his debut, going 1 for 73 and 4 for 54 in a nail-biting game at Bombay. At 48, he decided to run for Madhya Pradesh in one final attempt.
10. Udit Birla
The Indian cricketer Udit Alok Birla was born on November 17, 1989, in Kolkata, West Bengal. He went to The Bishop's School in Pune to study. He bats in the middle of the order and is generally right-handed. In the 2013 IPL, he was selected to play for India's Pune Warriors. When playing first-class cricket, he represents Madhya Pradesh.
