Image Credit- PTI
Although Khaleel Ahmed’s career in India hasn’t quite taken off, a respectable IPL allowed him to play white-ball cricket in Zimbabwe in July for the first time since 2019. Khaleel is currently acclimating himself back to a regular first-class cricket diet.
Yash Dayal beat him to the Indian Test squad for Bangladesh, therefore Khaleel had another chance to shine in the current Duleep Trophy match, only his 14th since his debut in 2017. He added three more first-inning wickets on Friday to build on his five from the previous round, giving India A the upper hand.
India A bowled out India C for just 183 after adding just two runs to their overnight 288 for 8. Khaleel bowled a fantastic session of swing and seam for 3 for 39.
Even though he only bowled eight overs, his late movement and lift gave him enough opportunities to create confusion and keep batsmen off balance. With a vicious inswinger that he shouldered arms to off the third delivery of the innings, he removed Atharva Taide from the game. In his second over, he had Shreyas Iyer out for seven balls without scoring.
Iyer collapsed as he lobbed a full toss to mid-on, unable to completely commit to the stroke since he had been hanging back in the crease. It seemed as though Iyer was bothered by the away movement and a short ball that he somehow managed to sway out of.
With his third, Khaleel created an angle similar to that of Zaheer Khan by bending one back in late to hit Ricky Bhui on the pads. Bhui was stuck in front, unsteady on his feet.
Just as intense as Khaleel’s fire from one end was young Aaqib Khan’s from Uttar Pradesh. Aaqib, who has only played in 12 first-class games, lacks express pace, but he more than makes up for it with his poise and small departures from the game. Even though he was facing some of the best hitters in the first-class competition to date, Aaqib did not seem phased.
The returning Sanju Samson, whose stay lasted only six deliveries when he miscued a pull to mid-on, was one of his three wickets early in his tenure. Aaqib had a final line of 3 for 41.
Only Devdutt Padikkal scored runs for India D; his explosive 92 was full of delicious cover drives and a strong back foot game, particularly against his statemate Prasidh Krishna, whose 11-4-30-1 numbers bely his actual bowling performance.
But it was Prasidh who got the last laugh when he hit Padikkal with a ball that skidded sharply to get the edge past the wicketkeeper. Padikkal took 122 balls to score his century, with wickets falling all around him. He knocked 15 boundaries with his hit.
With a 107-run advantage, Mayank Agarwal and Pratham Singh chipped away at a worn-out attack to score half-centuries in the latter part of the day. However, in the final stages of play, Agarwal calmly dropped a return catch off an uncomplicated ball from Iyer.