Under a blue sky, in front of an excellent crowd, India A and India C produced an engrossing day of cricket.
The runs may have been hard to come by — at under three an over for much of the time — but those among the spectators who view the game as something more than the big hits must have enjoyed the opening day of the Duleep Trophy third-round match. They would have particularly appreciated an exceptional knock under pressure by a young left-hander.
Shashwat Rawat displayed technique, timing, grit and skills, as he rescued his side from a disastrous collapse up front. The 23-year-old’s sixth First Class hundred (122 batting, 235b, 15x4) helped India A reach 224 for seven at stumps after being put into bat by India C at the Rural Development Trust Stadium on Thursday.
The seaming trio of Anshul Kamboj, Gaurav Yadav and Vyshak Vijaykumar, exploited the freshness of the wicket and bowled at probing line and length with the new ball, reducing India A to 36 for five.
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Kamboj, who had taken eight for 69 against India B in the last match, extracted bounce off the surface. He struck twice in successive overs to get rid of the openers Pratham Singh and Mayank Agarwal; the former gave a catch towards square-leg, the latter an inside edge behind the stumps.
India A was also being stifled by the miserly Gaurav, whose figures at one stage read 8-5-5-0. Tilak Varma was looking good against a relentless attack on a responsive track, but he was run out.
Rawat also watched Kumar Kushagra falling to a ball that moved away from Vyshak.
He was joined by Shams Mulani, who loves a crisis. The Mumbai all-rounder made a fine 44 (76b, 5x4, 1x6) and put on 87 for the sixth wicket. After he was brilliantly caught at gully off Gaurav, Rawat took over the responsibility.
He found an able ally in Avesh Khan and their unbroken eighth wicket is so far worth 70. The spectators might be tempted to return for the second day’s play to watch more of Rawat, especially his straight and off drives.
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