Not many heads turned as Karn Sharma waited at the Eden Garden club house porch for the Railways team bus. At the start of this month, he was in Australia with the Indian Test team. There, like the rest of the national stars, he was chased by fans and the media. But now he was back with his unfancied domestic team on eve a game that is expected to be played in front of empty stands.

For Sharma, who got 4 wickets for 238 runs in the only Test he played, it is back to the grind. The 27-year-old leggie, who wasn’t included in the India ODI squad that is involved in the tri-series at present, says he has no regrets as he gave his best. “At the end of the day, only 15 get picked. I look forward to the future and will try to perform in domestic cricket,” he said. Railways captain Mahesh Rawat welcomed the return of his star spinner. “He has achieved so much within such a short period time, but Karn hasn’t changed a bit.”

The Group A fixture against Bengal, starting here Thurday, will be Sharma’s second Ranji Trophy outing since returning from Australia. His first one the rain-curtailed game against Jammu and Kashmir where he bowled just two overs.

In Sharma’s absence, the “go-to” bowler for Railways skipper Rawat has been pacer Anureet Singh, who has 24 wickets at 20.29 in six matches. With Sharma back, Anureet’s workload will lighten but the pacer isn’t taking things lightly. “For my part, I’ve been concentrating on bowling longer spells. I bowled close to 350 overs (348.1) last season. This season, I’ve already bowled 205 overs (204.4) in six matches,” he said.

Railways have 13 points at the moment. An outright win against Bengal, and they will have an outside chance to reach quarter-finals.

It’s a young Mumbai team with no senior player with a link to the famous past and this lot lacks belief and has a trust deficiency with each other. MCA vice-president Ravi Savant had to once call Yadav and Thakur to clear airs after an on-field spat during Madhya Pradesh game but things have only turned worse since.