Duleep Trophy: 19-year-old Musheer’s ton of class

Rishabh Pant’s much-awaited return to red-ball cricket lasted a mere 10 balls but Musheer Khan’s resolute unbeaten hundred carried India B to 202/7 against India A on the opening day of the four-day Duleep Trophy contest here today.

Before Musheer (105 not out off 227 balls) and Navdeep Saini (29 not out off 74 balls) built a stand of 108 for the eighth wicket, India B were in a huge hole at 94/7 as opposition skipper Shubman Gill made the prudent choice of bowling first under overcast skies.

But Musheer, younger brother of Sarfaraz Khan (9), saved his side from a total collapse with an innings of rare maturity that belied his age of just 19.

When the right-hander entered the field at No. 3 in the 14th over, the bowlers were right on top. There was appreciable bounce, carry and movement for the India A pacers. But Musheer, who is making his Duleep Trophy debut, tackled each of those difficulties in his own way.

“I wanted to play as many balls as possible without thinking too much about runs. I wanted to bat the whole day, and I was taking it session by session,” Musheer said. “The ball was swinging and cutting when I came to bat. So, I was trying to play the ball as close to my body as possible, and was looking to avoid those risky shots. I knew runs would eventually come,” he added.

Yashasvi Jaiswal looked in good touch during his 59-ball 30 but a moment of indiscretion ended his stay.

Axar show

Axar Patel brought India D back into the game with a counterattacking 86 following a disastrous start before picking up two wickets against India C for a standout effort on Day 1 in Anantapur.

India C pacers Anshul Kamboj (2/47) and Vijaykumar Vyshak (3/19) made use of a helping pitch to run through the India D batting, leaving them in a desperate state at 48/6. Batting at No. 7, Axar began cautiously before going ballistic to make 86 off 118 balls, singlehandedly taking India D to 164 all out in 48.3 overs.

Brief scores: India B: 202/7 in 79 overs (Musheer 105*, Jaiswal 30; Khaleel 2/39, Akash 2/28, Avesh 2/42) vs India A; India D: 164 all out in 48.3 overs (Axar 86; Vyshak 3/19, Kamboj (2/47) vs India C: 91/4 in 33 overs (Porel 32*; Harshit 2/13, Axar 2/16).