Tilak Varma and Pratham Singh capitalised on India D’s wayward attack in what were easy batting conditions, putting India A in a strong position in the third match of the Duleep Trophy 2024, at Anantapur’s Rural Development Trust Stadium A. Four of the five batters surpassed 50, with two of them scoring centuries. Tilak and Pratham made the most of their opportunities as the bowlers appeared tired and defeated. Thanks to a brilliant batting effort, India A posted a mammoth 488 for India D to chase. By the end of the day, India D had lost a wicket, with Atharva Taide dismissed, leaving them at 62/1, still needing 426 more runs to win.
At the start of the day, Tilak joined Pratham, and the duo added 104 runs for the second wicket. Pratham continued from where he left off yesterday, scoring an impressive century. The India D bowlers seemed flat, running out of ideas as the pitch offered little assistance. In their attempts to take wickets, they bowled too many loose deliveries.
Riyan Parag once again appeared proactive, hitting two sixes and looking set for a big score, before once again getting out. For the fourth time in the Duleep Trophy, he got a start but failed to convert it into a big innings. Tilak was dropped once late in the session, but apart from that, it was a tepid bowling performance from India D. That missed chance proved costly, as Tilak didn’t offer many more opportunities to the bowlers.
India D will be disappointed with their bowling efforts. Saurabh Kumar was the only bowler to take wickets during the day’s play and might have had another if fellow spinner Saransh Jain held onto the chance offered by Tilak. Saransh, however, bowled exceptionally well, particularly against Pratham. The off-spinner challenged both edges but was unlucky not to secure a wicket in the first session.
Post-lunch, Arshdeep Singh found a hint of reverse swing. There was some movement, but with his pace in the early 130s, he could occasionally trouble Tilak and Shashwat.
Shashwat, in particular, aggressively challenged the bowlers, draining the remaining energy from the India D team. Shreyas Iyer chose not to bowl with the new ball for ten overs, instead opting to bowl himself and use other part-time bowlers like Taide.
It was unclear why India A chose to bat for just 2 overs after tea and then declare. Subsequently, Khaleel Ahmed and Prasidh Krishna made the new ball talk, with the former taking the wicket of Taide for the second time in the game. The pitch began to misbehave, showing signs of uneven bounce and occasional sharp turn. The rough patches led Mayank Agarwal to introduce Shams Mulani earlier. Once the ball lost its shine, runs began to flow more freely. Ricky Bhui scored the bulk of his runs in boundaries at a good pace, ensuring that his team did not lose any more wickets.
Brief Scores: India A 290 (Shams Mulani 89, Tanush Kotian 53; Harshit Rana 4/51) & 380/3 decl. (Pratham Singh 122, Tilak Varma 111*; Saurabh Kumar 2/110) lead India D 183 (Devdutt Padikkal 92, Harshit Rana 31; Khaleel Ahmed 3/39) & 62/1 (Ricky Bhui 44*, Yash Dubey 15*; Khaleel Ahmed 1/17) by 425 runs