India B emerged winners on a thrilling last day of the Duleep Trophy 2024 match against India A on Sunday, September 8. KL Rahul and Akash Deep kept India A alive in the chase on Day 4 but India A pacers avoided a late drama to seal the first-round match by 76 runs.
Chasing a 275-run target on the last day, India A lost openers Shubman Gill and Mayanka Agarwal early but KL Rahul and Riyan Parag scored crucial runs to keep the game alive. KL Rahul top-scored with 57 runs off 121 and then tailender Akash Deep smashed a quick 43 runs but it was in vain against India B's pace attack at M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Once again, the pitch proved tricky for the batters on the last day with the pacers finding good seam and swing throughout the match. Rahul played a proper red-ball cricket knock but lacked support from the other end with Dhruv Jurel and Shivam Dube failing with a bat again.
Riyan Parag started well with some aggressive intent by smashing 31 runs off just 18 balls but was not able to convert it into a big innings. Kuldeep Yadav played 56 balls hoping for a draw but India B bowlers managed to bowl out India A to a 198 total in 53 overs.
Musheer Khan's 181 in the first innings and Navdeep Saini's all-round heroics proved the difference. Musheer was awarded the Player of the Match award for his sensational century to help India B post a big total of 321 in the first innings.
The BCCI's selection committee led by Ajit Agarkar is expected to announce India's squad for the upcoming home Test series against Bangladesh in the next two days and will consider the players' performances in the first round of the Duleep Trophy fixtures.
