Published: Aug 31, 2016, 01:35 PM (IST)
Edited: Aug 31, 2016, 07:07 PM (IST)
Hello and welcome to the live cricket coverage of the second day’s play in the ongoing Duleep Trophy 2016-17 match between India Red and India Blue. This Duleep Trophy 2016-17 match is the second game of this tournament, which marks the beginning of the Indian domestic season 2016-17. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has, for the first time, given a name to the Indian domestic cricket season, which is ‘India Cricket’. A total of more than 900 matches will be held during the Indian domestic cricket season, including India’s Test matches and other age group games across the country in the months to come.
India Red made a winning start to the Duleep Trophy 2016-17, as they smacked the India Green team by .a massive margin of 219 runs in the opening game of the Indian domestic cricket season. India Red captain Yuvraj Singh did not contribute much with the bat in the game, but his team did enough to beat their opponents in the first game of the crucial tournament. BLOG: India Red vs India Blue, Duleep Trophy 2016-17 Day 1
After starting the innings well, India Red innings has come down like a castle made of cards. After the openers Gautam Gambhir and Mayak Agarwal put up a 151 runs stand, India Blue have stumbled as they have piled up from 151 for 1 to 200 for 5. Except for the openers, none of their batsmen managed to get past the score of 20.
With India Red’s pacers proving in-effective, Yuvraj Singh brought Kuldeep Yadav to get some assist from the pitch. But the pitch behaved not so friendly for the Chinaman as he did not get any grip or turn. Yuvraj seeing no assistance for spinners got Nathu Singh back to bowl in tandem even though he was looking very bewildered. Singh sticking to his basics got rid of Gambhir who looked quite settled on the pitch.
Singh’s fuller delivery nipped back in where Gambhir looked in two minds as he did not move ahead nor back as was struck right in front of off-stump. Just before a new partnership would be formed, kuldeep Yadav brought his side back into the game as he got rid of Agarwal who looked all set to get to his century.
Agarwal tried to heave on over long-on as he looked in a hurry to get to the milestone. But Yadav got the better of him as he bowled the wrong one. Agarwal came out of the crease with intentions of heaving one over long-on but the away turn got good of him and in the end it was easy stumping for Srikar Bharat.
The disappointment was clear on his face as he walked back towards the dressing room. Since the departure of Agarwal nothing went by India Blue’s way. After both the openers had gone back, Blue’s were at 188 for 2. But Kuldeep Yadav got the advantage of this situation as he went onto pick more three wickets of Baba Aparajit, Suryakumar Yadav and Karn Sharma. None of these batsmen got going as they went cheaply as Aparajit scored 19, Yadav scored 5 while Sharma could not even open his account.
Talking before the match, India Blue captain who Is playing his first ever match with the Pink ball talking to Hindustan Times said, “It (pink ball cricket) is very exciting, especially when lights are on. I am looking forward to it. I know the pink ball does move a bit, but as an opener I have to deal with it. That challenge is always there, even against the red SG or Kookaburra balls. However, as professional cricketers, we must be ready. And the spinners have to get used to gripping the pink ball.”
“It comes down to mindset. The basics of the game remain the same. You still have to negotiate the new ball, and first session of first day is going to be crucial. I am not reading too much into it. Maybe the players were a bit nervous considering that it was the first day of the domestic season. Once the nerves go away and you hit the game mode, things do get easy. I haven’t seen the wicket yet, but having the right mindset is important,” Gambhir said.
The ongoing Duleep Trophy 2016-17 has a very critical relevance for the Indian cricket fans. For those who are not following the tournament closely or are not aware with the issues making rounds in the Indian cricket circles, there is more than one reason for them to start following this tournament as it has its own unique attractions.
For the starters, it is the first time ever that the pink cricket ball is being used in a high profile tournament like the Duleep Trophy. The pink cricket ball is the future of Test cricket as it will be used for the day-night Test matches, and the ball which is being made by several companies around the world such as Kookaburra, Dukes, SG and even Spartan, is one of the main attractions of the ongoing Duleep Trophy 2016-17. The entire Duleep Trophy 2016-17 will be played at the Greater Noida Sports Complex Ground, Greater Noida. The ground may not be having all the facilities of an international cricket venue, but it has as many as six light towers for the game to go on unaffected in the dark.
In the first ever match of Duleep Trophy which was played between India Red and India Green, Red completed a comprehensive victory as they went on to win the match by staggering 219 runs. India ‘Red’ predictably completed the formalities polishing off the India ‘Green’ tail within half-an hour to win the inaugural Day-Night Duleep Trophy encounter by a comprehensive 219-run margin. Starting the day at 217 for 7, the Green brigade were all out for 277 in 56.2 overs with skipper Suresh Raina hitting a quickfire 90 in a losing cause. Chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav finished with career-best figures of 6/88 and match figures of 9/120 showing his mastery in wrist spin in both the innings. Raina’s innings off 101 balls was laced with 11 boundaries and three sixes but it was more of an act of defiance trying to delay the inevitable as a victory target of 497 was already out of bounds after the third day’s play.
The match lasted exactly 10.2 overs in the final afternoon. First it was Ashok Dinda, who tried an ugly pull shot off a Nathu Singh bouncer to be caught at mid-on. With defeat looming large, Raina upped the ante as he hit a six over mid-wicket and a flurry of boundaries off Anureet Singh and Kuldeep as he inched towards his century. Raina reached the 90s by dancing down the track and lofting Kuldeep over long-off but was out off the very next delivery trying to clear mid-off.
The match was over the moment Pragyan Ojha was taken by Abhinav Mukund off Akshay Wakhare’s bowling. The Red team got six points for an outright win and look good to reach the final of the tournament. Opener Abhinav Mukund was awarded Man of the match for scores of 77 and 169 in both innings. The next match starts from Monday wherein Gautam Gambhir’s Blue team will take on the Red brigade.
