Shams Mulani (Twitter)
India A and India D exchanged blows on Day 1 of the third match of the Duleep Trophy 2024 at the Rural Development Trust Stadium in Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh. India D’s skipper Shreyas Iyer called it correctly at the toss and asked India A to bat first. Interestingly, both teams had made a few notable changes as some players had been released to join the senior men’s team for the upcoming Bangladesh series.
The side got off to a horrid start as both the openers Pratham Singh and skipper Mayank Agarwal were dismissed at seven runs each, courtesy of Vidwath Kaverappa’s brilliant deliveries.
The team’s woes continued as left-hand batter Tilak Varma who was playing his first game of the competition, walked back after adding just ten runs to the team’s tally. Promising all-rounder Riyan Parag provided some resistance with his quickfire 37-run knockoff 29 deliveries, lacing his innings with five boundaries and one six.
The newly inducted Shashwat Rawat next partnered up with wicketkeeper-batter Kumar Kushagra to steady the ship. Rawat had a small 19-ball stay and managed to score just 15 runs. On the other hand, Kushagra tried to accelerate but was a victim of Arshdeep Singh’s beautiful delivery and walked back after scoring 28 runs.
Also Read: WATCH: Riyan Parag’s lofted cover drive for six in Duleep Trophy personifies elegance
From there, Shams Mulani took it upon himself to get his hands on the trembling ship. Mulani stitched a crucial 89-run partnership with Tanush Kotian. Kotian scored a sublime fifty, smashing six boundaries and one six. Meanwhile, Mulani is still unbeaten on 88 runs, lacing his innings with eight boundaries and three sixes. Khaleel Ahmed (15*) was a good partner to Mulani as both of them refused to give their wicket to India’s D bowlers.
Agarwal & Co. are currently batting on 288/8 and will continue to bat on the following day. For India D, Arshdeep, Harshit Rana and Kaverappa picked two wickets each with Saransh Jain and Saurabh Kumar also chipping in with one wicket each.