“Who am I? You sure you want to know? The story of my life is not for the faint of heart.” The famous monologue from Spider-Man 1 fits perfectly for the rising star of Bengal, Sumanta Gupta. A small-town boy from the lanes of Rampur hat, who always dreamt of being a star of Bengal, gets his first ton against Railways in the Ranji Trophy. The journey to the big stage was not easy, just like today's century, years of hard work and struggle lie under this stellar performance. It all started when three-year-old Sumanta, also popularly known as Bittu, took a spatula from his mother in the kitchen and played cricket indoors with the plastic ball thrown by his father. Seeing his son’s interest in cricket, father Anil Gupta, a former district-level and Burdwan University cricket player, felt a strong urge to make his son an established cricketer, and it was the first time Sumanta took the game seriously. After day 2 of the Railways match, when News Ei Samay reached out to him by phone, he mentioned,” My father helped me to learn cricket, I want to dedicate this century to my father and my family. He was the first man who made me understand what cricket is and took me to the cricket ground. My father is my coach.”
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Early days of his career
Sumanta Gupta began training at the age of six, and after performing well in several district matches, he first arrived in Kolkata when he was just ten years old, and the challenge of establishing himself started straight back 24 years ago. The 34-year-old batter, who also used to bowl leg spin, said hard work is the only key to success. The boy from Rampurhat first played for Bengal in a U-14 tournament. Following his performance, he also played the U-17 state tournament and appeared for Bengal in the U-19 tournament in 2009.
Behind every step forward in his career, the success was covered with unseen struggles. During his time with Victoria Sporting Club, Sumanta had to spend nights alone in the club tent, far from the comfort of home, as he didn’t have any room to stay. It was the kindness of the ground staff and caretakers who offered him their own blankets that helped him to settle in the cold. Before joining East Bengal, he captained the YMCA team, carrying the weight of responsibility at a young age.
First Ranji call-up
In the 2017–18 season, Sumanta Gupta earned the opportunity to play for the Bengal team in the Vijay Hazare Trophy and the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Earlier, in 2017, Sumanta came to the attention of Sourav Ganguly. During the 2014–15 season, while playing for East Bengal under coach Pranab Nandy, Sumanta learned new aspects of his game and excelled in the premium stage. During his tenure with East Bengal, he became the highest run-scorer in the M.C. Ghosh Trophy. He first earned his Ranji call-up in 2022 and got his debut in the final of the Ranji Trophy 2022-2023 season, where he played as an opener and failed devastedly. Bengal also lost the final, and Saurashtra became the champion.
Bengal’s new middle-order sensation
Sumanta is slowly becoming the pillar of the middle order of Bengal; in this season, he has already scored two half-centuries and a century. Speaking about his motivation, he said he only wants to win the trophy for Bengal and that is his main focus right now. His 120 runs against Railways were decorated with 15 fours and 2 sixes. Batting in the second innings, Railways were already off the line as they lost 5 wickets in just 97 runs. Bengal started the batting with a top-order collapse; however, the middle order saved it. Stalwart batter Anustup Majumdar also scored 135 runs, and Indian player all-rounder Shahbaz Ahmed scored 86 runs. Sumanta led the batting on day 2 with Rahul Prasad and Vishal Bhati.
Before Sumanta, in 2020, Golam Mustafa from Rampurhat earned a place in the Bengal Ranji team but did not get the opportunity to play. Earlier, in 1980, Prabal Ghosh from Suri had played for the Bengal Ranji team, and now whenever a small-town boy dreams of playing cricket, Sumanta Gupta, Rampurhat’s Bittu, will be the example for parents.
