The BCCI have given the domestic as well as the international players a stern decision to participate in the Duleep Trophy to recognize their talent before the selectors go on to finalize a team before the Bangladesh and New Zealand home series.
Team India has been the constant finalist for both the World Test Championships, of which the first was held in 2021 and the following edition in 2023; however, both have seen India letting go of the trophy to their opponents. This time, with the appointment of Gautam Gambhir as the head coach of India, the team will be looking for a quest for a new set of test players.
Players with the likes of Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Axar Patel, Shreyas Iyer, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Sarfaraz Khan, and many such players will be seen in the Duleep Trophy, with only Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Jasprit Bumrah spared over contention in the domestic circle.
While the Duleep Trophy saw, players like Suryakumar Yadav, the T20I skipper, Mohammad Siraj, Umran Malik, and Ishan Kishan have been reported to be ruled out of the first half of the Duleep Trophy, as Samson was chosen to replace Ishan Kishan from the side.
India A vs. India B: The Scenarios from Chennai ft. Musheer Khan
The India B team were pushed onto bat first after India. A skipper, Shubman Gill, won the toss at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium. The track didn’t seem very ideal to bat on, as the openers, Yashasvi Jaiswal and skipper Easwaran, came in to bat.
The start was not as unconvincing as Jaiswal, and the No. 3 batter, Musheer Khan, who is making his Duleep Trophy debut, batted well. The issue arose when Jaiswal got out after his 30.
The middle order, comprising Srafaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant, and Nitish Kumar Reddy, collapsed miserably, as Sundar and Sai Kishore got out without troubling the scorers. Team A pacers Avesh Khan, Khaleel Ahmed, and Akashdeep all took 2 wickets each, as Team B were 7 wickets down for 94 runs.
Seeming to be in trouble, the 19-year-old Musheer Khan played the most remarkable innings of his career on his very debut match. Alongside Navdeep Saini, he batted vigilantly for his Duleep Trophy hundred with his 105* run-knock, which he scored with a single against Kuldeep and then leapt into the air.
At the end of Day 1, at Chinnaswamy, Team B is 202/7 with Musheer not out on 105 while Saini supported well with his 29*.
India C vs. India D: Axar Patel emerges hero at Anantapur
After a very disappointing batter’s day on the Anantapur track, if only one man left the field with his head held high and the bat in his hand, then it would be none other than Axar Patel.
The top-order collapsed to the pacers again, as they could not even raise a 50 run as Kamboj, Vyshak, and Himanshu Chauhan struck 7 wickets between them to resist them to a small total.
In their short innings of 164, Axar Patel scored 50% of the team runs with an 86-run knock with 6 fours and 6 sixes in his innings. On the bowling front, Harshit Rana struck twice for Team D as he got rid of the two openers, Gaikwad and Sudarshan, and then followed by Axar Patel’s 2-wickets of Patidar and Juyal.
At the end of Day 1, at Anantapur, Abhishek Porel, Bengal’s wk-batter scored a 32* with Indrajith’s 15*, as they ended the day with 91/4 at stumps.
