Following play in the second day of the Duleep Trophy here on Friday, captain Mayank Agarwal and batsman Pratham Singh struck half-centuries to enable India A reach 115 for one in their second innings and maintain their lead over India D.
Despite India batsman Devdutt Padikkal’s heroic 92 to give his team a 107-run lead, India A bowled out their opponents for 183 before amassing 290 in their opening innings.
With Agarwal (56, 87b, 8×4) and Pratham (59 batting, 82b, 6×4) leading their run glut in the second innings, India A now enjoy a 222-run lead.
Agarwal, who is keen to regain his place in the selectorate, will, meanwhile, be regretting himself for failing to spoon a straightforward return catch when falling on the final ball of the day to part-time spinner Shreyas Iyer.
However, Agarwal and Pratam continued to play well up until that time, executing some fluid drives and cuts, and the run-rate never dropped below four.
But that was only one aspect of India A’s dominance that day; early on, pacers Aaqib Khan and Khaleel Ahmed took three wickets apiece to unsettle the India D lineup.
Devdutt was the only one of their hitters to rise above the continual challenge of judgement, hitting 15 hits to the ropes while stroking his way to a 92 off 124 balls.
Against England earlier this year, the left-hander from Karnataka, who made his Test debut, was especially tough on any deliveries struck off the off-stump or on his pads.
The 24-year-old had a chance to hit a century off state-mate Prasidh Krishna, but he fell just eight runs short after Kumar Kushagra made an easy catch to put him out of the game.
Although the 11-4-30-1 figures do not fit the definition of a hallow spell, Prasidh valued them greatly throughout his return to form.
Since Karnataka’s Ranji Trophy match against Gujarat in January of this year, this was the pacer’s first appearance in a competitive match.
The 28-year-old has been recovering from a quadriceps injury since that game. Despite hitting two consecutive sixes off left-arm spinner Shams Mulani in his 31 off 29 balls, Harshit Rana’s effort was insufficient for India D to go closer to their opponents.
Rana can, however, take some solace from the fact that he dismissed India A for 290 in their first innings after taking four wickets in the day’s opening session.
Resuming from their 288 for eight from the previous night, India A lost Mulani and Aaqib to Rana, who finished with 4 for 51.
Brief scores: India A: 290 all out and 115/1 in 28.1 overs (Mayank Agarwal 56, Pratam Singh 59 batting) vs India D: 183 all out in 52.1 overs (Devdutt Padikkal 92, Harshit Rana 31; Khaleel Ahmed 3/39, Aaqib Khan 3/41).
