Delhi: Bengal has announced its 17-member team for the first match of Ranji Trophy 2026-27. For this match against Delhi to be held from October 11, Bengal has prepared a great mix of experienced and young players. The command of the team will be in the hands of Abhimanyu Easwaran, while Sudeep Gharami has been made his deputy.

The Bengal team includes experienced fast bowlers like Mohammed Shami, Akash Deep and Mukesh Kumar. In such a situation, Delhi batsmen will face a big challenge from the very beginning.

Eyes will be on Shami's return

The biggest strength of Bengal's fast bowling attack is Mohammed Shami. In the last Ranji season, he was the highest wicket taker among the Bengal fast bowlers, while his performance in the entire tournament stood at sixth position.

This Ranji match is also important for Shami because a good performance in domestic cricket can once again take him to the doorstep of the Indian Test team. The Indian team for the New Zealand series is to be announced soon and in such a situation, the selectors will definitely keep an eye on Shami's performance.

Akashdeep and Mukesh will also show their strength

Along with Shami, Bengal's pace battery also includes Akash Deep and Mukesh Kumar. Both the bowlers have been in good form recently. Akash Deep has returned fit, while Mukesh Kumar has also consistently performed well in domestic cricket. Both of them recently played an important role in Rest of India winning the Irani Cup 2026.

In view of the upcoming Test series against New Zealand, this Ranji Trophy match is going to be very important for Akashdeep and Mukesh also.

Big responsibility on Easwaran and Gharami

Bengal will be led in batting by captain Abhimanyu Easwaran and vice-captain Sudeep Kumar Gharami. Both the batsmen have been in excellent form recently and played a big role in helping East Zone achieve historic success in the Duleep Trophy 2026.

After Anustup Majumdar's retirement at the end of last season, there will definitely be a lack of experience in Bengal's batting. In such a situation, Easwaran and Gharami will have a big responsibility to score runs.

Abhishek Porel also returns to the team

Wicketkeeper batsman Abhishek Porel has also got a place in the Bengal team. Along with him, Shakir Habib Gandhi is included in the team as the second wicketkeeper.

Porel was recently in the news due to a legal matter and made a comeback to cricket after getting bail in September. After this, he also played in Bengal's practice match against Assam, which was a draw. Now his aim will be to make a strong comeback with the bat in the first match of Ranji Trophy.

Bengal squad against Delhi

Abhimanyu Easwaran (captain), Sudeep Kumar Gharami (vice-captain), Sudeep Chatterjee, Ankur Paul, Ankit Shukla, Abhishek Porel, Shakir Gandhi, Shubham Chatterjee, Sumanta Gupta, Mohammed Shami, Akash Deep, Mukesh Kumar, Pradipta Pramanik, Aamir Ghani, Mohammad Kaif, Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal and Soumyadeep Mandal.

Stan by: Aditya Purohit, Abhishek Raman, Shubham Sarkar, Sumit Mohanta, Geet Puri, Karan Lal and Akhilesh Yadav.