More pacers come to the party

In the absence of the first-choice pacers – Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur – the first round of the 2024 Duleep Trophy had turned out to be a Test match trial for India’s backup pacers. Akash Deep and Yash Dayal emerged as the frontrunners and earned call-ups top the Test side.

There was no Akash or Dayal in this round, but the others stood up to stay in the hunt. Having never taken more than three wickets in an innings in first-class cricket, Anshul Kamboj of Haryana ripped through India B to return 8-69, the fifth-best figures in Duleep Trophy history.

Kamboj was not the only one. Bengal’s Mukesh Kumar, who has already played three Test matches, claimed 4-126 against India C. Elsewhere, Delhi’s Harshit Rana had 4-51 in the first morning, while later in the match, Rajasthan’s Khaleel Ahmed had 3-39 and Delhi’s Aaqib Khan 3-41.

More spin-bowling all-rounders

Not only do India have the best spin attack in contemporary Test cricket but R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Axar Patel are all bona-fide all-rounders. With Ashwin and Jadeja well past 35, finding heirs to that legacy was always going to be a challenge.

The Mumbai duo of Shams Mulani and Tanush Kotian provided some answer to that. Coming together at 144-6, Mulani (89) and Kotian (53) added 91 to help India A reach 290. They also shared nine wickets in the match. Rajasthan’s Manav Suthar, who got 7-49 in the second innings of the first round, made 82 for India C.

In India, batting heroes are everywhere

For India A, the first-innings resilience came from Mulani and Kotian. In the second innings, Pratham Singh and Tilak Varma slammed hundreds to help their team set 488. For India D, Devdutt Padikkal made 92 out of 183 (of which, only 148 were scored during his stay at the wicket). And in the fourth innings, Ricky Bhui played some exquisite shots in his valiant 113.

In the other match, Ishan Kishan of India C celebrated his return to first-class cricket with a 126-ball 111; Ruturaj Gaikwad recovered from an ankle injury to make two fifties; and Baba Indrajith got a first-innings 82. In response, Abhimanyu Easwaran carried his bat through the India B innings of 323 with 157 not out.

There is no vacant spot in the Indian team at this point, but when a spot opens up, the replacement will certainly have recent runs under the belt.

The big guns fail with the bat

Apart from Kishan, the stars failed to make an impact. Riyan Parag looked in ominous form on the first morning before throwing away a 29-ball 37. Out of the squad now, Shreyas Iyer needed a big innings to earn his place back: his tournament haul reads 104 in four innings, with quite a few questionable shots.

Gaikwad did get two half-centuries; Rajat Patidar two forties; and Sai Sudharsan 43. Each of them are potential Test candidates, but none of these innings is likely to have boosted their case if they want to break into the Test side. The Khan brothers, Sarfaraz and Musheer failed, as did Rinku Singh.

Do the results even matter?

The moment this year’s Duleep Trophy moved away from the zonal format, it became evident that these games would serve as virtual Test trials. There would be very few vying for the triumph of a specific team, for all four squads consist of motley crews of varying geographical origins and quality.

This became more evident when, despite bowling out India B within seven overs of the final day, India C captain Gaikwad did not enforce a follow on. Instead, he opted for batting practice, and the teams shook hands the moment the option was available to them. Despite there being little to lose, India C were happy to settle for three points – though one might argue that it guaranteed them a top-of-the-table berth.

It is not clear whether India C took the call or whether there were specific instructions from the national selectors. Both teams did get much-needed match practice, but without striving for a result.

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