Ganguly back in Bengal Ranji squad

Sourav Ganguly has made himself available for selection for Bengal's entire domestic season in 2011-12, according to Bengal selection committee chairman Deep Dasgupta.

"It shows how motivated Ganguly is to play this season. He trains regularly to keep himself in shape and will be available for the entire Ranji Trophy, one-day and T20 tournaments," Dasgupta told PTI. "His presence in the dressing room itself will be a big inspiration for the youngsters."

However, Ganguly's other career - as a television commentator - may prevent him from playing the full season. ESPNcricinfo understands that Ganguly will be in Australia from early December to cover India's tour, which ends on March 8. The Test leg of the tour, though, finishes on January 28.

Ganguly, 39, had retired from international cricket in November 2008 after which he was primarily involved in the Indian Premier League. He played only two Ranji Trophy matches for Bengal in the 2010-11 season, scoring 13 and 7.

The 16-man squad for Bengal's first two Ranji Trophy Super League matches, against Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, will be led by Manoj Tiwary, with wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha as vice-captain.

Squad: Manoj Tiwary (capt), Wriddhiman Saha (vc & wk), Sourav Ganguly, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Arindam Das, Rohan Banerjee, Abhishek Jhunjhunwala, Arindam Ghosh, Partha Sarathi Bhattacharjee, Ranadeb Bose, Ashok Dinda, Mohammad Sami Ahmed, Saurashish Lahiri, Iresh Saxena, Writam Porel, Anirban Gupta.