More than being a former Test cricketer and a good coach, Arun Lal has been a great motivator. He has injected fighting spirit into the Bengal players which has been evident in their performance this season.
One important message he passed on to the players at the start of the season was ‘don’t lose before you actually lose the game’. That has made a huge difference.
When the season started, nobody had expected this young Bengal team to reach the final of the Ranji Trophy.
But they did that quite confidently and are now looking forward to crossing the final hurdle. “We have been playing very well from the beginning of the Ranji Trophy. We took one match at a time. It’s the same for the final too. I just told the players — take it just as a game, not as the Ranji Trophy final.
“The moment you start thinking of it as a final, the pressure automatically starts creeping in. I don’t want my players to take any extra pressure. It is my duty to make them feel comfortable,” the Bengal coach told The Telegraph from Rajkot on Friday.
Bengal reached the venue of the final on Friday evening. The match begins on Monday.
Bengal are only concentrating on the positives ahead of the summit clash. “We have done a lot of good things this season. In at least three matches, we came back from a losing position to win.
“Our previous performances will work as a confidence booster during the final. We are just one game away from achieving the target. I am keeping my fingers crossed. Hope all ends well,” Lal said.
“We will play to our strengths. Our pacers have been doing well, the batsmen are doing a decent job. “When we were in difficult situations, our lower middle-order stood up. We want to count on those positives,” Lal said.
Wriddhiman Saha will play the final and Lal believes it will serve as huge boost for the side. “He is a current India player and his presence will definitely help us,” Lal, who was the member of Bengal’s last Ranji Trophy winning side in 1989-90, said.
Saha, who was blessed with a baby boy on Friday, will join the squad on Saturday.
Saurashtra captain Jaydev Unadkat has been in superb form while Cheteshwar Pujara will play the final — these are factors that could put Bengal on the back foot, but Lal thinks differently. “If you want to become champions, you have to play against the best teams,” he said.