Sandeep Sarkar, Kolkata: Saurasish Lahiri burst the bomb after being neglected as the coach of Bengal U19 team. The former Bengal offspinner said that the selectors tried to get the cricketer into the team by forming a syndicate. The assistant coach was betrayed. CAB was also uncooperative. A review meeting was not held despite repeated requests. On the contrary, Sourav Gangopadhyay’s close cricketer Surjit Lahiri called him to keep his mouth shut after he was dropped from the coaching panel.

The junior selectors of Bengal came to the CAB on Friday after the explosive complaint of Sourashis. Junior selection committee chairperson Soumitra Majumder and the other four members – Praveer Acharya, Shankar Bhattacharya, Satyen Bhattacharya and Prasenjit Gangopadhyay – said Sourashis was the preferred team. Being unable to be a coach is putting the blame on them unfairly.

Kolkata was paralyzed by the Friday afternoon storm. There is a storm in the lobby of CAB. Sitting on the second floor of the club house, junior selector Prabir Acharya said, ‘At the U-19 level, we selected the initial team of 50 people. A group of 30 people was formed from there. The coach’s opinion was also taken there. Coaches play tournaments in Ponducherry and Ahmedabad with those boys. It is the coach’s decision which cricketer will play in the match, in which position. We don’t snort.’

Chief selector Soumitra Majumder said, ‘I don’t know why Sourashis accused us of running a syndicate. Such allegations are completely baseless.’

Saurashis alleged that assistant coach Sanjeev Sanyal insisted on Agnishwar Das’ inclusion in the team. He was forcibly taken to Ahmedabad to play a preparatory tournament. Commenting on this, selector Satyen Bhattacharya said, ‘Agnishwar is a great cricketer in white ball cricket. We felt he would do well if given a chance in red ball cricket. The cricketer could have benefited from playing in the warm-up matches. We gave our opinion. But the final decision was in the hands of the coach.

Sourashis said that a separate trial match was held to accommodate only one cricketer named Siddharth Ghosh. Satyen Bhattacharya said, ‘Siddharth plays at Dalhousie Club. You can see his performance, he deserves a place in the team.’ Akash Tarafdar, the best bowler in the U16 team, was overlooked for this Siddharth Ghosh? Selector Prabir Acharya said, ‘That boy (Akash) was traveling with the team, did not play any matches. We thought it would be better if he played club matches. Siddharth performed well last season. So take the team. He was not played with Goa.’ Selector Shankar Bhattacharya said, ‘Siddharth bowled well against Uttar Pradesh. Was swinging. Gets a wicket.’

Was there pressure from influential circles to get a player into the team? The selectors refused. He replied, ‘The coach went on tour with the team with his family. The trainer also resigned because he misbehaved with Ankur Chatterjee.’ Sourashis alleged that the party selection meeting of the Uttar Pradesh match was held without him. Although the electors do not accept that complaint. He said, ‘Saurashis was in Kalyani because there was a match of the Bengal team. He was spoken to on the phone.’ Is it before or after the election meeting? The selectors said, ‘CAB Joint Secretary Madan Ghosh called earlier.’ That Madan Ghosh, after passing 70 years of age who Supreme CourtHe is sitting in his room in the CAB every evening in order to maintain the rule of thumb.

Although there are some questions that are increasing the discomfort of the selectors and CAB!

One, do the selectors go to the field to watch the game of Bengal? Went with the Bengal team in the Vijay Merchant Trophy under 16 board tournament? The selectors said that Prabir Acharya should go with the team. The rest have problems going out of Kolkata on long trips. But how do the rest of the five-member selection committee see the board match?

Two, do the junior selectors keep track of the under 16 tournament? The question is, which team won the Vijay Merchant Trophy last season? Everyone cheered. He looked at her face. Then go to Google and get the answer. Junior selectors do not keep track of board junior cricket tournaments? The selectors surprisingly said, ‘We only look for the Bengali team.’

Three, did the CAB take their opinion before appointing the coaches of various junior teams of Bengal? Chief selector Soumitra Majumdar said, ‘We don’t get into these. That is entirely a matter of CAB.’ He was reminded that the CAB constitution enshrines that the selection committee will have a say in appointing coaches. It is known that the voters do not know this.

Four, the selectors were asked, what to submit the quarterly report to the CAB? The selectors said, ‘We make it ourselves. There is a discussion among themselves.’ But on the recommendation of the Lodha Committee, the revised constitution is supposed to submit quarterly reports to the CAB! No answer.

The whole field is waiting to see what Sourashis new response to the whole incident.