Musheer Khan made the biggest headlines on the opening two days of the Duleep Trophy 2024 with a brilliant hundred for India A. He missed out on a double hundred by 19 runs but his memorable innings has definitely made things interesting ahead of India's team selection for the Test series against Bangladesh.
The 19-year-old right-handed batter managed to add 76 runs on Day 2 to take India B past 300 in the first innings. Musheer and Navdeep Saini added 205 runs for the eighth wicket, a new record-breaking stand for the 8th wicket in Duleep Trophy history, with the latter adding a brilliant 56 runs off 144 balls.
Akash Deep emerged as the best bowler for India A with four wickets while Khaleel Ahmed and Avesh Khan added two each to restrict India B to 321 runs in 116 overs.
India A openers Shubman Gill and Mayank Agarwal started positively with a 57-run partnership for the opening wicket. After a surprising but impressive display with a bat, Navdeep Saini also made an impact with a ball by removing both Gill and Agarwal in his back-to-back overs.
Riyan Parag and KL Rahul then displayed calm and sensible cricket by adding unbeaten 68 runs for the third wicket as India A scored a total of 134/2 in 35 overs at the end of Day 2's play at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
India A vs India B Live Scorecard
Musheer Khan makes things difficult for Ajit Agarkar?
This is not the first time Musheer has stolen the attention but this is definitely the first time he is knocking the national team doors. India is set to host Bangladesh and New Zealand before travelling to Australia in the busy Test schedule for the next five months.
Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee is reportedly looking to announce the team for the two Tests against Bangladesh after the first-round fixtures of the Duleep Trophy. With many senior and star cricketers returning to domestic cricket, the completion of the national team selection has spiced up.
Musheer has already scored two centuries in First-Class cricket, an unbeaten double hundred in the quarter-final and a century in the final to lead Mumbai to their record-extending 42nd Ranji Trophy title earlier this year.
The spin all-rounder now boasts 710 runs in 11 First-Class innings at an average of 64.54 and seems ready to step up for the next challenge - international cricket.
Musheer's 181 definitely outplayed India's Test probable Shreyas Iyer, Devdutt Padikkal, Ruturaj Gaikwad and his elder brother Sarfaraz Khan but the timing of his heroic innings clearly put his name into consideration for Test cricket.
