ANANTAPUR, Sep 12: Ishan Kishan marked his First-Class return after well over a year with a wonderful hundred, the backbone of India C’s day one total of 357 for five against India B in the Duleep Trophy match here on Thursday.
Kishan’s 111 (126b, 14×4, 3×6) lifted India C from a slightly wobbly 97 two 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 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 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, 7×4, 2×6) to guard the crease along with Manav Suthar (8 batting).
But the day belonged to Kishan, who added another solid brick to his comeback trial into red-ball cricket.
The left-hander had made a hundred in Jharkhand’s opening round win over Madhya Pradesh in the recently concluded Buchi Babu Invitational tournament in Tamil Nadu.
That game in Coimbatore was his first red-ball match after the Test against the West Indies at Port of Spain in July 2023, and he carried on with his redemption act here as well.
He had Baba Indrajith (78, 136b, 9×4) for the company as the pair milked 189 runs for the third wicket stand to take India C to a commanding position.
Mulani leads India A 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 for eight on day one of their Duleep Trophy fixture against India D here on Thursday.
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 for five inside the first session.
Kumar Kushagra (28 off 66) too provided much-needed support to Mulani, who collected eight fours and three sixes in his unbeaten effort. The southpaw would be aiming to surpass his highest score of 97 on Friday.
Mulani, whose main role in the side is of a spinner, effectively used his feet against the slow bowlers especially against fellow left-armer Saurabh Kumar. Against the quicker bowlers, his play square of the wicket stood out.
He brought his half-century with a six down the ground off Saurabh, soon after smashing pacer Arshdeep Singh for a maximum over deep square leg.
Pacer Harshit Rana was impressive once again for India D while Vidwath Kaverappa, playing his first game of the tournament, removed opposition captain Mayank Agarwal (7) and Pratham Singh (7) in the morning session.
India A skipper Agarwal’s lean run in the competition continued as he was caught behind off a beauty from Kaverappa. Pratham played an ordinary stroke, a pull, to be holed out at deep backward square leg.
Riyan Parag (37 off 29) produced some exquisite strokeplay but was guilty of not staying long enough in the middle once again. Parag took the bait from Arshdeep who went for a wide delivery to have the batter caught in the slips Tilak Varma (10) too could not make an impact.
Towards the end of the day, Harshit got rid of Prasidh Krishna with a well-directed short ball that had him caught at leg slip.
A well-set Kotian was guilty of throwing his wicket away as he offered a straight catch to Arshdeep at mid-on off Saurabh in the 67th over, ending an innings-defining partnership. (PTI)
