It was purely a 'Batsman's Evening' with Tamil Nadu opener Abhinav Mukund and talented Bengal boy Sudeep Chatterjee's twin tons took India Red to a commanding 354-run lead against India Green on the second day of the Duleep Trophy on Wednesday in Greater Noida. After the bowlers ruled the roost with 17 wickets on the first day, it was the turn of southpaws Abhinav (162 batting, 212 balls) and Sudeep (114, 182 balls) to conjure up a 240-run partnership for the second wicket.
Gujarat opener Priyank Panchal started off his new season with a patient 105 in India's Red's none too impressive 232 for 5 as Murali Vijay and Karun Nair surprised one and all sharing bulk of the spoils for India Green on the opening day of the Duleep Trophy.
Pacer Vijaykumar Vyshak who played under Shreyas Iyer's captaincy at Punjab Kings in the IPL, said that the skipper is understanding of young players and knows how to handle his team with maturity.
The BCCI is mulling November 19 as the tentative date for start of domestic season with Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament but Indian players in various IPL teams won't be able to play first few rounds due to quarantine protocols in place.
Yuvraj Singh feels it moved a bit more than SG Test ball while Robin Uthappa's observations varied from colour change to lack of reverse swing as the first set of inputs on the much talked about 'Pink ball' Day-Night experiment in the Duleep Trophy came to the fore.
The Ajinkya Rahane-led West Zone were 268 for five when the match ended
The BCCI's 2015-16 domestic calendar, which, in a media statement, boasts that it will host 900 matches in the span of six months, starting October 1, has discarded the inter-zonal competition which was started in 1961-62. The tournament was conducted to perpetuate the memory of K S Duleepsinhji, nephew of K S Ranjitsinhji in whose memory the national cricket championship is played.
Central Zone spinners, led by captain Piyush Chawla, weaved magic on a helpful track to steer the team to the Duleep Trophy title with a thrilling nine-run triumph over South Zone in New Delhi on Sunday.
In-form chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav led India Red's fightback with a four-wicket burst to reduce India Blue to 200 for five on another rain-hit day in the Duleep Trophy in Greater Noida on Tuesday. Gautam Gambhir (77) and Mayank Agarwal (92) missed out on centuries before Yadav's sublime spell brought the match alive after a chunk of second day's play was lost due to rain, much like the opening day at the Greater Noida Sports Complex Ground. After 34.2 overs on day one, 27.4 overs were possible in the match played with pink ball and under lights.
Bengal speedsters Ashok Dinda and Mohammed Shami Ahmed bowled at a brisk pace to shot Central Zone out for a paltry 133, on the first day of the Duleep Trophy final at the Holkar Stadium, in Indore on Sunday.
Speedster Parvinder Awana grabbed six for 84 to help North Zone come right back into the match at stumps, on the second day of their Duleep Trophy quarter-final against East Zone.
After a dominant batting display, India Blue dished out a lethal bowling effort to bundle out India Green for just 237 runs and virtually secure its place in the final of the four-day Duleep Trophy cricket tournament, in Greater Noida on Tuesday. In reply to India Blue's mammoth first innings total of 707, India Green's fightback lasted for just 61 overs.
Central Zone make four changes in squad for Duleep Trophy final against South Zone
Yash Rathod has the sixth-highest first-class average for any Indian batter with at least 2000 runs, going past Vijay Hazare (58.38) and Vinod Kambli (59.67).
Mahesh Rawat scored a century and combined well with lower-order batsmen to pile on the misery of the North Zone bowlers as Central Zone's Duleep Trophy semifinal ended in a draw in Mohali on Saturday.
Former India batsman Mohammed Kaif played the anchor role with an unbeaten 108 as Central Zone recovered from a difficult position to end the opening day at 292 for eight in their Duleep Trophy semi-final against defending champions South Zone on Saturday.
India Test skipper and T20 vice-captain Shubman Gill reached the BCCI's Centre of Excellence (CoE) for fitness assessment ahead of travelling to Dubai for the upcoming Asia Cup.
India Blue reached the Duleep Trophy final on the basis of a massive first innings lead, completing a comprehensive performance against India Green even as the game ended in a draw in Greater Noida on Wednesday. There was only one team going into the final against India Red after India Blue took a huge 470-run first innings lead yesterday by dismissing the Green team for 237. India Blue had amassed 707
The opening day of the Duleep Trophy final between Noth Zone and South Zone in Kochi on Thursday was called off without a ball being bowled due to a wet outfield, caused by overnight rain.
The spin duo of Krishnappa Gowtham and Karn Sharma shared nine wickets between them as India Red skittled out India Green for 157 on the second day of the Duleep Trophy match in Lucknow.
Off-spinner Parveez Rasool picked up his 9th five-wicket haul in first-class cricket as India Green dismissed the Blue team for a paltry 177 before finishing the day at 100 for 3 in the final round robin league encounter of the Duleep Trophy.
Kerala will have a new captain in Mohammed Azharuddeen.
Former champions South Zone have virtually qualified for semi-finals after reducing West Zone to 156 for 6 in on the penultimate day of their four-day Duleep Trophy match in Chennai on Saturday.
'It would have been understandable if, after a gruelling tour where five Test matches were crammed into a little over six weeks, he had opted to rest.''
The result means that India Blue and India Red will meet in the final.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India on Thursday announced five new Test venues as Rajkot, Vizag, Pune, Dharamsala, Ranchi and Indore were named as hosts for the first time, for the forthcoming season where India will be playing thirteen Test matches, eight One-Day Internationals, and three T20 Internationals.
Is this a subtle hint at a change of guard at Rajasthan Royals?
Indian cricketers, including Test skipper Shubman Gill and ODI captain Rohit Sharma, have cleared the pre-season fitness test which was conducted at the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru on Sunday.
Abhimanyu Easwaran, who made a brilliant 153 for India Red, was named player of the match.
Double centuries by in-form Baba Aparajith and Manish Pandey helped South Zone amass 553 for 7 against West Zone on the second day of their four-day Duleep Trophy quarter-final in Chennai on Friday.
Opener Mayank Agarwal continued his rich vein of form with a cracking 161 as India Blue batsmen were engaged in a run-feast scoring 336 for 3 against Green on the first day of the virtual "semi-final' clash of the Duleep Trophy, in Greater Noida on Sunday.
Central Zone's Madhya Pradesh duo of Jalaj Saxena and wicketkeeper batsman Naman Ojha took full advantage of dropped catches and took an inexperienced North Zone attack to the cleaners as they posted 344 for three at stumps, on the first day of their Duleep Trophy semi-final, at Mohali, on Wednesday.
Ranji Trophy, India's premier tournament which was cancelled for the first time in 87 years in 2020, has been planned between December and March in the upcoming season.
The West Zone squad was selected by the selection committee chaired by Mumbai's Sanjay Patil, Baroda's Prayan Dave, Maharashtra's Akshay Darekar, Sandip Maniyar from Saurashtra Cricket Association and Kirat Damani from the Gujarat Cricket Association.
The final will be played in Coimbatore from September 21, and it will be a five-day affair
This year, Rajat led RCB to their maiden IPL title in 18 years and recently was crucial to the Central Zone's Duleep Trophy triumph for the first time since 2014-15.
Young chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav kept the opposition batsmen on tenterhooks with a maiden five wicket haul as he took India Red on the cusp of an outright victory against the Green team in the inaugural Day/Night Duleep Trophy encounter in Greater Noida on Thursday. Chasing a mammoth victory target of 497, the Green team was tottering at 217/7 at the end of penultimate evening with another 280 runs to win the match. Suresh Raina was at the crease batting on 35.
Gujarat opener Priyank Panchal is likely to lead India 'A' in three four-day 'Tests' against New Zealand 'A'
Rahane (207 batting) and Jaiswal (228) toyed with the North East bowling line-up
Opener KL Rahul continued his dream form as he blazed his way to a brilliant unbeaten 121 after a classy 185 in the first innings as South Zone looked in cruise control in pursuit of 301 against Central in the Duleep Trophy final.
