Duleep Trophy: With unconventional approach, Musheer Khan rides the storm to an unbeaten 105 | Cricket News

Metronomic pace, batting convulsions and knocks of promise called for an enthralling opening day in the Duleep Trophy on Thursday.Seam bowling expectedly maintained order with Akash Deep’s incisive spells in Bengaluru and unheralded seamers wreaking havoc in Anantapur.Even though accomplished batsmen were left to plod and survive, Musheer Khan (105 batting) and Axar Patel (86) served solid counter-attacks for their respective teams.
Akash sparkles
In the morning session at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Akash offered a clear signal of his expanding repertoire with a sparkling spell, replete with movement off the pitch and adept usage of lengths.
His India A captain Shubman Gill was steadfast in his decision to bowl after winning the toss against India B, with firm grass covering a vertical half of the pitch.
Bengaluru: India A bowler Akash Deep celebrates after taking a wicket during the first day of Duleep Trophy 2024 match between India A and India B teams, at Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, Thursday, Sept 5, 2024. (PTI Photo/Shailendra Bhojak)
Akash, who nabbed three wickets on his Test debut against England in February, cramped up the India B openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Abhimanyu Easwaran during an eight-over burst with the new ball. With Khaleel Ahmed’s left-arm variation and a skiddy Avesh Khan backing him up — despite a left-right combination in the middle — Akash consently persed with the off-stump channel. As Akash piled on the pressure, the openers’ composure was tested at the other end.
Jaiswal efficiently saw off probing deliveries in the channel while India B skipper Easwaran employed a stoic defence. Runs trickled in a gruelling first hour before Easwaran undid his toil, poking hard at a wide delivery from Avesh to the wicket-keeper. An iffy Jaiswal progressively fed on Khaleel’s erring lengths and smashed six boundaries in the V. After being constricted Akash’s angular smarts from around the wicket for a considerable time, Khaleel’s nip-backers also tasked Jaiswal with guarding his middle-and-leg stumps. And when Khaleel tossed in an odd loosener outside the off-stump, Jaiswal (30) could not res a full-blooded cut that sailed straight to the point fielder.
Akash’s wicketless trough ended soon after lunch as he snapped India B with the successive wickets of Rishabh Pant and Nitish Kumar Reddy. Playing his first red-ball match since late 2022, Pant was hurried the Bengal pacer from round the stumps. The ball kicked up from length and Pant’s pre-emptive hoick offered a leading edge, pouched an athletic leap from Gill, running backwards from mid-off.
Akash followed up with a pearler to Nitish – an in-slanting delivery that shaped beautifully to clink the top of off-stump – bringing parity to his figures (18-6-28-2) that comprised 90 dot balls.
Tough nut
But Musheer’s enduring knock staved off India B’s full-blown deterioration. Joining hands with his brother Sarfaraz Khan for the third wicket late in the first session, Musheer batted himself into a shell after nearly being caught at first slip on 0. Sticking to their unconventional defensive techniques involving fancy forward presses, the Mumbai duo treaded streakily against the pacers.
Crouched with a peculiar low backlift, Sarfaraz’s languid attempt to flick Avesh across the line proved fatal as the ball rushed past a slow-moving blade, trapping him leg-before on 9. But Sarfaraz’s message to his sibling before his dismissal eventually bailed their team out of choppy waters.
Bengaluru: India B team player Musheer Khan plays a shot during the first day of Duleep Trophy match between India A and India B, at Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (PTI Photo/Shailendra Bhojak)
“My brother and I have the same game. I try to follow whatever he does. In the middle, he only asked me to follow my technique. Usne bola agar tere ko lagta aage bad sakta hai, to aage bad kar khel (If you feel like moving forward, go ahead and do it),” Musheer said post the day’s play.
Despite a few chinks, Musheer affirmed that conviction in his methods prevailed under duress. He survived 66 balls before he whipped up his first boundary. A steady collapse which saw his team reeling at 94 for seven prompted Musheer to gradually unfurl his attacking range. Having devoured spin in the domestic and age-group circuit, Musheer chose his battles wisely. He displayed admirable dexterity when he sliced and swept left-arm wr-spinner Kuldeep Yadav and took on off-spinner Tanush Kotian.
While his unorthodox footwork, involving an extensive utilisation of his pads to disrupt swing and seam movement may not woo the purs, Musheer’s stature at the crease improved with each passing hour. The shortcomings of an exaggerated forward prod against pace began to disappear and the gaps were frequented with constant drives in the final session.
This was after all only his sixth First-Class match but Musheer was flourishing in his first serious and high-stakes test at the crease. Forging an unbeaten 108-run eighth-wicket stand with Navdeep Saini (29 batting), Musheer pressed the accelerator late in the day against the tweakers. As the evening sun shone down on him, Musheer pumped his Mumbai teammate Kotian for two sixes on the square before vaulting to a century on his Duleep Trophy debut in 205 balls.
With his side parked at a healthier 202 for seven at stumps, Musheer revealed his only target was to bat out the entire day. The grit, almost inbred in the Khan cricketing household, has elevated the 19-year-old’s temperament on a formidable stage on Thursday.
Brief scores: At Bengaluru: India B 202/7 (Musheer Khan 105 n.o, Yashasvi Jaiswal 30; Akash Deep 2/28, Khaleel Ahmed 2/39) vs India A.At Anantapur: India D 164 (Axar Patel 86; Vijaykumar Vyshak 3/19, Himanshu Chauhan 2/22) vs India C 91/4.