Duleep Trophy: Ishan makes red-ball return with ton
Ishan Kishan marked his First-Class return after well over a year with a wonderful hundred, the backbone of India C’s Day 1 total of 357/5 against India B in the Duleep Trophy match here on Thursday. Kishan’s 111 (126b, 14x4, 3x6) lifted India C from a slightly wobbly 97/2 after they lost Rajat Patidar (40) and B Sai Sudharsan (43) in quick succession.
The innings also underlined the fitness of the 26-year-old, who was originally in the India D squad, as he missed the first round of Duleep Trophy with a groin injury. Sanju Samson was drafted in as Kishan’s replacement in the India D squad, necessitating the redrafting of the former into India C.
Cutting back to the match, India C’s situation was compounded by skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad’s return to the hut with an ankle niggle after facing just two balls.
However, any major concern over Gaikwad’s fitness was allayed when he came out to bat after Kishan’s dismissal, making an unbeaten 46 (50b, 7x4, 2x6).
But the day belonged to Kishan. The left-hander had made a hundred for Jharkhand in the recently concluded Buchi Babu Invitational tournament. It was his first red-ball match after the Test against West Indies in July 2023. He had Baba Indrajith (78, 136b, 9x4) for the company as the pair milked 189 runs for the third wicket.
Mulani leads fightback
Bowling all-rounder Shams Mulani stood on the cusp of his maiden First-Class hundred after leading India A’s remarkable recovery to steer them to 288/8 against India D.
Mulani (88 not out off 174) forged a 91-run stand with fellow Mumbai teammate Tanush Kotian (53 off 80) to save the day for India A who were reduced to 93/5 inside the first session.
Kumar Kushagra (28 off 66) too provided much-needed support to Mulani. Pacer Harshit Rana was impressive once again for India D.
Brief scores: India A: 288/8 (Mulani 88*, Kotian 53; Rana 2/49, Kaverappa 2/30, Arshdeep 2/73) vs India D; India C: 357/5 (Kishan 111, Indrajith 78, Gaikwad 46*; Mukesh 3/76) vs India B.
Hardik triggers speculation over Test comeback
New Delhi: Star India all-rounder Hardik Pandya today posted a video of himself bowling with the red ball during a training session in England, triggering speculation over his return to Test cricket. Pandya bowling with the red ball evoked a lot of interest on social media after the 30-year-old posted a series of stories on Instagram. The injury-prone all-rounder hasn’t played Test cricket since September 2018 and underwent a lower-back surgery in 2019. He last played a First-Class game in December 2018.
