Duleep Trophy | Musheer and Saini pile it on before India-A’s counterpunch with the bat

The Duleep Trophy encounter between India-A and India-B was delicately poised at stumps on day two at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Friday.

After India-B folded for 321, half an hour into the post-lunch session, India-A reached 134 for two by close, with Riyan Parag (27 batting, 49b, 4×4) and K.L. Rahul (23 batting, 80b, 3×4) at the crease.

Skipper Shubman Gill (25, 43b, 3×4) and Mayank Agarwal (36, 45b, 8×4) began well, putting on 57 runs for the opening wicket, with the duo’s cover drives standing out.

But a moment of bad judgement cost Gill his wicket. Just like he had in the WTC final last year, he shouldered arms and the Navdeep Saini got one to nip back in sharply and rattle the off-stump. Mayank fell soon after, caught down the leg-side by a diving Rishabh Pant off Saini.

Parag and Rahul combined for an unbroken 68-run partnership. Of the two, the former looked more assured, with his two driven boundaries catching the eye. Rahul played and missed and was even dropped on three by Nitish Kumar Reddy at second slip off Mukesh Kumar before settling down to see out the day.

Earlier, overnight batters Musheer Khan and Saini continued their good work from day one by adding 88 runs in the first session. Runs came at a faster clip and Musheer’s intent was best expressed in the hooked six and pulled four he executed back-to-back off Avesh Khan’s bowling.

Musheer and Saini were also helped by India-A’s spiritlessness and lethargy, an example of which came when Khaleel Ahmed missed a runout with both batters stranded mid-pitch. Saini made full use of the opportunity to go on and notch up his second First Class half-century (56, 144b, 8×4, 1×6).

After lunch, Musheer came out swinging and seemed set for a double century as he smashed Kuldeep Yadav over long-on for a maximum. But a repeat attempt two balls later proved fatal as he was caught at deep square-leg, 19 short of a deserved double ton (181, 373b, 16×4, 5×6).

The 205-run association between Musheer and Saini was, however, a new record for an eighth-wicket partnership in Duleep Trophy history.

The scores: India-B — 1st innings: Yashasvi Jaiswal c sub b Khaleel 30, Abhimanyu Easwaran c Jurel b Avesh 13, Musheer Khan c Parag b Kuldeep 181, Sarfaraz Khan lbw b Avesh 9, Rishabh Pant c Gill b Akash 7, Nitish Kumar Reddy lbw b Akash 0, Washington Sundar run out 0, R. Sai Kishore c Rahul b Khaleel 1, Navdeep Saini c Parag b Akash 56, Yash Dayal c Mayank b Akash 10, Mukesh Kumar (not out) 0; Extras (b-4, lb-6, w-1, nb-3): 14; Total (in 116 overs): 321.

Fall of wickets: 1-33, 2-53, 3-67, 4-80, 5-80, 6-89, 7-94, 8-299, 9-320.

India-A bowling: Khaleel 23-6-54-2, Akash 27-7-60-4, Avesh 22-6-59-2, Dube 12-4-14-0, Kuldeep 21-3-82-1, Kotian 7-0-30-0, Parag 4-0-12-0.

India-A — 1st innings: Mayank Agarwal c Pant b Saini 36, Shubman Gill b Saini 25, Riyan Parag (batting) 27, K.L. Rahul (batting) 23; Extras (b-12, lb-4, nb-7): 23; Total (for two wkts. in 35 overs): 134.

Fall of wickets: 1-57, 2-66.

India-B bowling: Mukesh Kumar 9-0-40-0, Yash Dayal 10-1-25-0, Nitish Kumar Reddy 7-2-16-0, Navdeep Saini 8-1-36-2, R. Sai Kishore 1-0-1-0.