Shahbaz’s 121 helps Bengal recover to 350 in Ranji Trophy at Thiruvananthapuram

Bengal all-rounder Shahbaz Ahmed scored 121 as Bengal recovered from 108 for five to post a first-innings total of 350 in their Ranji Trophy match against Kerala in Thiruvananthapuram on October 29, 2026. "I am on a comeback trail after injuring my knee in the Duleep Trophy. I did well with the ball in the last match and I have done well with the bat now. It is pretty satisfying that I could contribute to the team’s win," Shahbaz said.

Shahbaz’s century was his third in first-class cricket and proved central to Bengal’s recovery on a surface described as challenging. He said the innings ranked among the best of his career. The knock allowed Bengal to build a match-winning first-innings platform after an early collapse to 108 for five.

Discussing the conditions and his approach, Shahbaz said: "It was not an easy pitch to bat on: there was help for the spinners. I took chances and played my shots. Ankur Paul, Sumanta Gupta and Pradipta Pramanik also played their part in helping us reach a good total. Pradipta was taking wickets from one end and I only had to do the supporting role. Overall, it was a good team effort," he added.

Pradipta Pramanik completed a maiden 10-wicket match haul in first-class cricket and described adjustments he made to exploit the pitch. "The ball was turning when I was batting and I realised I needed to hit the right length to extract maximum help from the pitch. So I bowled a fuller length and got the ball to bounce. Most of my dismissals came from catches in the slip cordon," he said.

Bengal coach Laxmi Ratan Shukla explained the team’s decision not to enforce the follow-on and justified resting his bowlers in humid conditions. "It was humid and the bowlers needed rest. We didn’t want to bat again, so we decided to forgo the bonus point. We are happy with six points. The boys showed character to bounce back and I was a little surprised when we were asked to bat first on this pitch. [Mohammed] Shami is a champion bowler... he bowled with a lot of intent," Shukla said.

The win earned Bengal six points in the Ranji Trophy; Shukla said the choice to forgo enforcing the follow-on was driven by the humidity and the need to preserve the bowlers' energy.