Duleep Trophy: Shubman Gill’s back-foot woes continue, even as Akash Deep impresses with his all-round turn

Shubman Gill would have called for a better finish to his 25th birthday on the field for India A in the Duleep Trophy at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. His exploits and a 76-run defeat leave him with necessary homework before India’s first Test against Bangladesh in 10 days. His teammate KL Rahul too would have hoped that his renewed resistance would last another hour to salvage a draw against India B on Sunday.

Gill had predicted a “highly competitive” contest on the eve of the Duleep Trophy opener. Rightfully, an enticing target was set for India A to chase with 78 overs left in Day 4’s play.

Taking on from their 240-run overnight lead, India B could only muster 34 in the opening session as Akash Deep ripped through the lower order, registering an impressive five-wicket haul (5/56). Having ceded the first-innings lead, the onus was on Gill to set the template for a 275 chase and snatch an outright win.

Mental block

Gill began with a doting dab through backward point for four. The fluidity of his innings, however, ended with that one shot as a concoction of lively seam bowling from Mukesh Kumar, Yash Dayal and Navdeep Saini exaggerated multiple chinks.

His opening partner Mayank Agarwal fell early with Dayal finding the outside edge to a superb low one-hander from Nitish Reddy at second slip. Gill was encouraged to play his natural game when no. 3 Riyan Parag opted for an early overdrive. Parag executed two short-arm jabs, a favourite in Gill’s playbook, for sizzling sixes off Mukesh and Dayal.

WHAT. A. CATCH! 🔥

Nitish Kumar Reddy pulls off a splendid diving catch at 2nd slip to dismiss Mayank Agarwal.#DuleepTrophy | @IDFCFIRSTBank

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Gill could not match Parag’s muscle as his indecisive feet often stopped him in his tracks. A good length delivery from Mukesh induced Gill’s inside-edge as he strayed to the back foot, the ball whizzing past the stumps. As Parag’s buzzing willow was silenced by Dayal’s fuller delivery, Gill’s faltering backfoot placed him on the edge against Saini, his first-innings tormentor.

Saini’s zooming late nip-backer that uprooted his off-stump in the first innings was perhaps still ringing in Gill’s mind. Stepping up for his first over, Saini hung the ball on a fifth-stump line before Gill opted for an avoidable intervention. With his backfoot failing to load fully to complement a restrained forward stride, Gill flashed hard at the ball. Luckily, the thick outside edge was dropped as the ball zipped onto Nitish Reddy’s wrist at second slip.

But Saini only required three more deliveries to foil Gill as he streakily tapped at an even wider delivery past the off-stump, offering a regulation grab for Rishabh Pant, dismissed for 21 (35). In his attempt to cover sharp seam movement, Gill has unlocked another aperture that demands attention. As his head and the left foot were already in position for a forward push, his backfoot stood frozen to the crease, facing the point fielder.

With Dayal snapping Dhruv Jurel for a golden duck and Tanush Kotian falling off the first ball after lunch, Rahul soon found himself in the middle with confounding choices. The charge for a win was tightened with the unerring lengths of the India B seamers. Rahul stood true to his impeccable technique, covering the off-stump adeptly against right-armers Saini and Mukesh and negotiating Dayal with late nurdles.

KL Rahul gets to his 50 🙌

He’s fighting it out in the middle for India A 👌#DuleepTrophy | @IDFCFIRSTBank

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The release shots ensured Rahul was in control even while the rest of the top-order had collectively failed to stand up against the quicks. Navdeep’s inswinging ball was watchfully driven through mid-on for four as the 32-year-old cemented his ground. His first aerial stroke, a rasping back-foot cut over point, came only after 90 deliveries at the crease. Trusting Kuldeep Yadav’s defiance at the other end, Rahul decided to work time while picking on the occasional loosener.

Relatively quicker from his previous essay, Rahul moved past a half-century in 99 balls before another on-drive off Mukesh sped to the fence. However, Mukesh’s sharper probe in the fourth-stump channel denied Rahul fulfilment after shielding the tail for three hours. An impetuous slash against an off-cutter – like the abrupt paddle-sweep against spin in the first innings – undid all the toil after his sagely operation against the seamers.

Akash nails the test

Despite Rahul’s dismissal, Akash Deep’s succeeding belligerence provided India B a glimmer of hope. The 27-year-old was already in the spotlight as the best seamer on show in Bengaluru, backing up his first-innings four-for with his fifth First-Class five-wicket haul in the first session. It included a pearler to Washington Sundar where Akash snuck past the left-hander’s defences with an inswinger that swerved in from an off-stump line.

Returning to the crease when batting, the Bengal pacer smote three maximums with sheer clarity on the slog. He closed in on a half-century (43, 42b, 1×4, 3×6) before a bizarre run out from short-leg drew curtains on his and India B’s endurance.

𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚 𝐁 𝐖𝐢𝐧 🙌

Akash Deep’s fighting knock of 43(42) comes to an end as he’s run out by a quick-thinking Musheer Khan.

India B beat India A by 76 runs. A fantastic win 👏#DuleepTrophy | @IDFCFIRSTBank

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Nevertheless, Akash’s exploits will shore up his stocks in India’s Test pace pecking order as a worthy batting heir to Mohammad Shami and Umesh Yadav in the tail.

“It has become an important batting position over the last few years. If you can contribute 20-30 runs walking in at no. 8 or 9, those could translate into winning runs. I have started thinking about all that, I am yet to work on those aspects,” Akash told reporters.

Fantastic 🖐️

Akash Deep has bowled brilliantly and picked up 9 wickets in the match 🙌

Re-live his five-wicket haul in the 2nd innings 📽️🔽 #DuleepTrophy | @IDFCFIRSTBank

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His timely display might help India tide over the home Tests in Shami’s absence as the third pacer. Akash has smashed the latest tryouts for a six.

Brief Scores: India B 321 and 184 all out (Pant 61, Akash Deep 5/56) beat India A 231 and 198 all out (KL Rahul 57, Yash Dayal 3/50) by 76 runs.

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