Musheer Khan smashes a biggie at Chinnaswamy
Musheer was all timing and confidence in the first session of the day as the Mumbai batter continued to pile runs in the company of Navdeep Saini.
Young batter Musheer Khan smashed a rollicking hundred in the ongoing Duleep Trophy, anchoring India B’s first innings against India A at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. The Mumbai batter smashed 181 off 373 balls, including 16 boundaries and 5 sixes, to help his team post 321 following a horrific batting collapse on the opening day of the game.
Musheer was all timing and confidence in the first session of the day as the Mumbai batter continued to pile runs in the company of Navdeep Saini. He added 76 more runs to his individual score, following the template from the first day of him controlling a large chunk of strike. However, his 484-minute stay at the crease ended in the second over after lunch when he clanged Kuldeep Yadav to Parag in the deep.
Before walking back into the dressing room, Musheer struck Kuldeep for a gigantic six that hit the Chinnaswamy roof. It was the 111th over of India A innings when Musheer clubbed Kuldeep’s lofted delivery over long-on. The ball kept sailing in the air and ended up hitting the roof of one of the stands in the stadium.
But a delivery later, Kuldeep bounced back to get the better of Musheer. The dismissal also signalled the end of their stunning 205-run partnership, the highest for the eighth wicket in Duleep Trophy history. Their stand surpassed the 197 runs added for the eighth wicket by Abhishek Nayar and Ramesh Powar in 2010.
Once Musheer departed, India B innings folded quickly as pacer Akash Deep returned with a haul of four for 60.
Later, Navdeep Saini reminded of his presence among the fringe pacers with a quality newball spell that helped India B to keep India A in check at 134 for two in the first innings. The right-arm pacer, who has been out of favour since the 2021 away series against Australia, showed some spark to eke out the wickets of India A skipper Shubman Gill (25) and his opening partner Mayank Agarwal (36).
KL Rahul (23, 80 balls) and Riyan Parag (27, 49 balls) are at the crease at stumps, with India A in arrears by 187 runs.
(With PTI Inputs)
