Teenaged batting sensation Musheer Khan stole the limelight on the opening day of the Duleep Trophy opener for India B in Bengaluru as he fought his way towards a resolute century under pressure.
Musheer, who came in at the fall of the India B openers with the scoreboard reading 53 for 2, dragged his team out of trouble against an experienced India A attack, comprising the likes of Khaleel Ahmed, Avesh Khan and Akash Deep — probable contenders for a place in the India squad for the upcoming Test series against Bangladesh, later this month.
However, Musheer ground his way out of a nervy start and dragged his team along single-handedly towards a respectable total, whilst scoring more than half the team’s total of 202 by the end of the first day.
Opting to field under overcast conditions and on a pitch with a green tinge, the India A opening bowling pair of Khaleel Ahmed and Akash Deep extracted some movement that had Yashasvi Jaiswal go threw a few nervy plays and misses. Jaiswal counterattacked with six glorious boundaries to slam 30 runs off 59 balls before being dismissed by Ahmed in the 22nd over after his opening partner and India B skipper Abhimanyu Easwaran (13) was caught behind off Avesh by the 13th over.
The departure of Easwaran and Jaiswal brought together the brothers from Mumbai — Musheer and Sarfraz Khan, with the latter starting off with a cut boundary. Through the first 30 overs until the lunch break, India B had managed only 65 runs for the loss of the openers. The second session began on a good note for India A with Avesh trapping Sarfaraz leg before with a sharp incoming delivery, bringing in a much anticipated red-ball comeback of Rishabh Pant.
Pant’s return to red-ball cricket ever since the horrific car crash in December 2022, lasted mere 10 deliveries as his attacking intent fell flat and he ended up skying a catch trying to take on a metronomic Akash Deep after scoring seven runs. Wickets began to tumble for India B, with Deep dismissing Nitish Reddy with the ball of the day that seamed after pitching in line to get him for a golden duck. Akash also got a foot onto the ball which resulted in Washington Sundar run out for a duck. India B lost their fifth in the session when R Sai Kishore edged Khaleel to slip to 94 for 7.
All this while, at the other end, Musheer overcame a close LBW shout off Shivam Dube but ensured to continue the fight by getting to his half century off 118 balls. With Navdeep Saini in company, Musheer decided to pick the spin of Kuldeep Yadav as a scoring option, and slammed four boundaries off the senior spinner, employing the sweep effectively.
Musheer’s confidence in partner Saini gradually grew over a period of time as they went on to put on an impressive unbeaten 108-run stand. His hundred eventually came off 205 balls as scoring got relatively easier against the older ball.
Brief Scores: India B 202/7 (Musheer Khan 105*; Akash Deep 2-28) vs India A
All-round Axar Patel shines for India D on Day 1
All-rounder Axar Patel spearheaded India D’s comeback with a counter-attacking half century after a shaky start and later chipped in with a couple of wickets against India C on the opening day of their Duleep Trophy clash in Anantpur.
Tottering at 48 for 6, Axar came to India D’s rescue by hammering 86 runs off 118 balls, consisting of six fours and six sixes to propel the side to 164. Batting at number seven, Axar began his innings cautiously but transitioned to an aggressive approach to take his side to some sort of respectability.
India C’s decision to bowl first after winning the toss proved crucial as Anshul Kamboj struck in the very first over of the match with the scalp of Atharva Taide before Vijaykumar Vyshak struck twice sending both Shreyas Iyer and Devdutt Padikkal back to the hut. Yash Dubey was the next to depart as India D lost three wickets in the space of six deliveries to get reduced to 23/4.
Himanshu Chauhan struck in just his second over that brought Axar out to the middle. The left-hander remained a spectator from one end as the wickets continued to tumble. With nowhere to go at 76/8, Axar started opening up as he first hit Chauhan for successive boundaries before targeting Manav Suthar for two sixes and a four in one over that took him past fifty. Axar was severe against spin as Hrithik Shokeen bore the brunt with back-to-back sixes but Shokeen finally had his man though as Axar fell for 86 just a few deliveries after losing Arshdeep at the other end.
In reply, India D bowlers came up with a strong reply. Ruturaj Gaikwad and Sai Sudharsan got going with a boundary each but were both sent back by Harshit Rana in successive overs. Axar further dented their progress by dismissing Aryan Juyal (12) and Rajat Patidar (13) to leave them at 91 for 4 after 33 overs and trail by 73 runs at stumps.
Brief scores: India C 91/4 (Abishek Porel 32*; Harshit Rana 2/13) trail India D 164 (Axar Patel 86; Vijaykumar Vyshak 3/19) by 73 runs