Musheer Khan saves India B’s blushes but Jaiswal & Pant fail to impress in Duleep Trophy

The Indian domestic cricket is among the headline once again and it is due to the star-studded squads at the Duleep Trophy 2024. While IND C and IND D locked horns in Anantapur, the marquee clash that had majority of India stars played in the IND A vs. IND B clash.

IND B 94/7 in 1st half

IND A skipper Shubman Gill won the toss and asked the Abhimanyu Easwaran-led side to bat first on a green top in Bengaluru. The likes of Khaleel Ahmed, Akash Deep and Avesh Khan licked their lips as they had IND B on the mat. IND B were 94/7. Yashasvi Jaiswal squandered his 30-run start, while Easwaran (13) was also outdone by Avesh Khan. Avesh started his spell superbly, hitting the right areas that also saw Sarfaraz Khan’s back at 9.

Akash Deep menace

Then came a striking over by Akash Deep. The bustling Bengal pacer pitch the ball in a good length area to which Rishabh Pant hoicked one across the line. Shubman Gill ran from the mid-off area and plucked a sensational catch to cease Pant’s red-ball comeback. On the very next ball, Akash Deep bowled one of the best balls of the day when he sent back Nitish Kumar Reddy. It was another good length delivery that swung as much as it needed to hit the top of off.

Musheer Khan dominance!

By the end of 44 overs, IND B were 94/7. Musheer Khan and Navdeep Saini then joined hands to put up a stand filled with vigil and resistance. Musheer, in particular, was a stand apart batter, who oozed excellence. He negotiated the early seam movement quite phenomenally before taking down spinners at will. He hit most runs against Kuldeep Yadav, which is not a mean feat.

Musheer used his feet movement in an excellent manner that forced IND A bowlers to alter their lines regularly.

IND A vs IND B Day 1 Brief score

IND B 202/7 (Musheer 105*, Akash Deep 2/28)