Ruturaj Gaikwad played another impressive innings as India B and India C shared points in the Duleep Trophy 2024 second-round fixtures on Sunday, September 15. India C declared their second innings on 128/4 as umpires called for early stumps on Day 4 in Anatapur.
Both teams failed to overcome each other with huge first innings totals and played out for a draw to earn some crucial points. India C's 525 in the first innings helped them earn three crucial points to take the lead in the table after second-round fixtures at the Duleep Trophy.
Staring last day from 309/7, India B managed to add just 23 more runs to their second innings total. Captain Abhimanyu Easwaran remained unbeaten on 157 runs to help his team avoid a follow-on by just seven runs.
After picking five wickets on Day 3, the young pacer Anshul Kamboj took all three wickets on Sunday to bowl out India B to 332 in 108 overs. Anshul emerged as the best bowler with eight wickets for just 69 while Vijaykumar Vyshak and Mayank Markande picked one each for India C.
India C lost struggling Sai Sudharsan early but Ruturaj and Rajat Patidar added 96 runs for the second wicket to avoid a collapse. Gaikwad top-scored with 62 runs off 93 balls and Patidar scored 42 runs to show some glimpses of returning to form.
Ishan Kishan failed to carry the momentum from his first innings century as he was bowled out for just one run by Rahul Chahar. Anshul Kamboj was awarded the Player of the Match award for scoring 38 runs and for producing his career-best First-Class figures of 8 for 69.
Meanwhile, Ruturaj returned to form after failing to make a big impact in the first-round fixture against India D. He scored 120 runs across two innings against India B and is leading the scoring chart for his team with 171 runs after the first two rounds of the Duleep Trophy.
The 27-year-old top-order batter was surprisingly dropped from India's team for the last white-ball series against Sri Lanka. Gaikwad also remains out of contention for the Test team despite his impressive record in domestic cricket.
With the emergence of Yashasvi Jaiswal and the BCCI's push to promote Shubman Gill across formats, Gaikwad has struggled to cement his place in the national teams. The national team selectors might be expecting more consistency from the CSK captain who will be next seen in action in the third-round Duleep Trophy fixtures from September 19.
