Fringe players like Rinku Singh and Shivam Dube along with some seasoned name who have been ignored by the national selectors will be aiming to attract their attention when round two of Duleep Trophy begins in Anantapur on Thursday. The star power in the season-opening red-ball event will be reduced significantly for round two with India squad players released for a national camp ahead of the first Test against Bangladesh in Chennai from September 19. Sarfaraz Khan is the lone India squad member who will be featuring in the domestic competition.

In the absence of national regulars, the focus will shift on the likes of Rinku, who was surprisingly not picked for the first round despite having an impressive first-class record. The spirited southpaw has also done well for India in T20 cricket.

Shubman Gill joining the national team has led to Mayank Agarwal captaining the India A unit. Having played his last Test in March 2022, Agarwal needs a bagful of runs to get back into national reckoning.

Pacer Prasidh Krishna, who missed the Duleep Trophy opener having not fully completed his rehab for a left quadriceps tendon, has been named in the India A squad. With the Australia tour on the horizon, the performance of the lanky pacer will be keenly observed.

In the India B squad, captain Abhimanyu Easwaran will need to lead from the front following a forgettable outing in Bengaluru last week.

Sarfaraz, who made a successful Test debut against England earlier this year, was upstaged by his brother Musheer in the opening game, the latter’s 181 taking India B to a fine win over India A.

The elder brother will be eyeing a big knock before joining the national team in Chennai.

Washington Sundar also features in the India B squad and his all-round abilities keep him in the mix for all formats. Pacer Mukesh Kumar, who was pipped by Akash Deep for the first Test, will have a point to prove.

India C openers Sai Sudharsan and Ruturaj Gaikwad will be looking to pile on the runs to make a case for the reserve opener’s role in the India setup.

Left-arm spinner Manav Suthar will be aiming to build on his match-winning performance against India D.

Rajat Patidar, dropped from the Indian team following a disastrous debut series against England, will need to show the hunger for red-ball runs.

Shreyas Iyer, captain of India D, is another player who has been sidelined from the Test squad and only a mountain of runs can bring him back into the national reckoning.

The same goes for Devdutt Padikkal and Sanju Samson, who was a notable name missing from India D’s playing eleven against India C.

Left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh too needs to do a lot more to enhance his red-ball credentials.

India A squad: Mayank Agarwal (C), Riyan Parag, Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Tanush Kotian, Prasidh Krishna, Khaleel Ahmed, Avesh Khan, Kumar Kushagra, Shaswat Rawat, Pratham Singh, Akshay Wadkar, SK Rasheed, Shams Mulani, Aaqib Khan.

India B squad: Abhimanyu Easwaran (C), Sarfaraz Khan, Musheer Khan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Navdeep Saini, Mukesh Kumar, Rahul Chahar, R Sai Kishore, Mohit Awasthi, N Jagadeesan (WK), Suyash Prabhudessai, Rinku Singh, Himanshu Mantri (WK).

India C squad: Ruturaj Gaikwad (C), Sai Sudharsan, Rajat Patidar, Abishek Porel (WK), B Indrajith, Hrithik Shokeen, Manav Suthar, Gaurav Yadav, Vyshak Vijaykumar, Anshul Khamboj, Himanshu Chauhan, Mayank Markande, Aryan Juyal (WK), Sandeep Warrier

India D squad: Shreyas lyer (C), Atharva Taide, Yash Dubey, Devdutt Padikkal, Ricky Bhui, Saransh Jain, Arshdeep Singh, Aditya Thakare, Harshit Rana, Akash Sengupta, KS Bharat (WK), Saurabh Kumar, Sanju Samson (WK), Nishant Sindhu, Vidwath Kaverappa.

The BCCI men’s selection committee on Tuesday announced changes for the second round of the Duleep Trophy to be played from September 12 in Anantapur.

Captain Shubman Gill, K.L. Rahul, Dhruv Jurel, Kuldeep Yadav, and Akash Deep from India-A have been named in India’s Test squad for the series against Bangladesh and will not feature in the upcoming round.

Pratham Singh (Railways) has been named as a replacement for Gill, Vidarbha captain and wicketkeeper-batter Akshay Wadkar for Rahul, 19-year-old Andhra batter Shaik Rasheed for Jurel, Mumbai left-arm spinner Shams Mulani for Kuldeep, and 20-year-old Uttar Pradesh medium-pacer Aaqib Khan for Akash Deep. Mayank Agarwal has been named the captain.

Himanshu Mantri (Madhya Pradesh) has been added to the India-B squad, which also features Suyash Prabhudessai (Goa) and Rinku Singh (Uttar Pradesh) as replacements for Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rishabh Pant, both of whom will be on National duty.

Pacer Yash Dayal has received his maiden National call-up. Though Sarfaraz Khan too has been named in the India Test squad, he will still feature in the second-round game.

Axar Patel, who is in the India squad, will be replaced by Nishant Sindhu (Haryana) in India-D. Tushar Deshpande is ruled out of the second round due to a niggle and will be replaced by Vidwath Kaverappa (Karnataka) from India-A.

The India-C squad remains unchanged.

Updated squads: India-A: Mayank Agarwal (capt.), Riyan Parag, Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Tanush Kotian, Prasidh Krishna, Khaleel Ahmed, Avesh Khan, Kumar Kushagra (wk), Shashwat Rawat, Pratham Singh, Akshay Wadkar (wk), Shaik Rasheed, Shams Mulani, and Aaqib Khan.

India-B: Abhimanyu Easwaran (capt.), Sarfaraz Khan, Musheer Khan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Navdeep Saini, Mukesh Kumar, Rahul Chahar, R. Sai Kishore, Mohit Awasthi, N. Jagadeesan (wk), Suyash Prabhudessai, Rinku Singh, and Himanshu Mantri (wk).

India-C: Ruturaj Gaikwad (capt.), Sai Sudharsan, Rajat Patidar, Abishek Porel (wk), B. Indrajith, Hrithik Shokeen, Manav Suthar, Gaurav Yadav, Vyshak Vijaykumar, Anshul Khamboj, Himanshu Chauhan, Mayank Markande, Aryan Juyal (wk), and Sandeep Warrier.

India-D: Shreyas lyer (capt.), Atharva Taide, Yash Dubey, Devdutt Padikkal, Ricky Bhui, Saransh Jain, Arshdeep Singh, Aditya Thakare, Harshit Rana, Akash Sengupta, K.S. Bharat (wk), Saurabh Kumar, Sanju Samson (wk), Nishant Sindhu, and Vidwath Kaverappa.

Indian cricket team wicket-keeper batter Rishabh Pant decided to poke fun at the India A players on Day 4 of the Duleep Trophy encounter in Bengaluru. Pant, who was part of the India B team, sneaked into the opposition side’s huddle while skipper Shubman Gill was giving his pre-match speech. In a video posted by Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on X (formerly called Twitter), Pant was seen stealthily joining the huddle and listening to the speech. While the India A players were quite unfazed by Pant’s presence, fast bowler Avesh Khan decided to have a conversation with Pant after the speech ended.

India B player Rishabh Pant joined India A huddle in the morning to understand the opponent’s plan.pic.twitter.com/QZHkIpRdFL

— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) September 8, 2024

While some of the social media users found the whole incident quite funny, there were some who were not impressed and pointed out that such acts hurt the image of a tournament like the Duleep Trophy.

Such videos will degrade authenticity of duleep trophy

Its like gali mohhale ki league ho

— Shah (@ipagshah00) September 8, 2024

Rishabh Pant returned to the Test side after nearly 20 months as India announced their 16-man squad for the opening match of the two-Test series against Bangladesh starting September 19.

thats funny

— Nattamai(@yoursme1122) September 8, 2024

Virat Kohli also made a comeback having missed the five-Test series against England at home earlier this year for having taken a break for the birth of his second child.

While fast bowler Mohammed Shami remains on a comeback trail and was not included in the squad, uncapped left-arm Uttar Pradesh fast bowler Yash Dayal received his maiden Test call-up.

India pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, who was last seen in national colours during the T20 World Cup, returned to the squad and he is expected to play a couple of more Tests against New Zealand in October-November, before the team flies out to Australia for a five-Test series.

Bumrah is perhaps the only player apart from Kohli and skipper Rohit Sharma to have been given freedom to choose as per the workload requirement and how his body responds, according to sources.

Having played in the second and final Test against Bangladesh at Mirpur from December 22-25, 2022, Pant had met a road accident a few days later on December 30 and made his return to top flight cricket only in IPL this year.

The 26-year-old swashbuckling wicketkeeper-batter returned to the national side in their title-winning campaign in the T20 World Cup.

Shami failed to make it to the Test side even though chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar had earlier expressed that the right-arm seamer was targeting a return in the first Test against Bangladesh.

Dayal, who was once smashed for five consecutive sixes by Rinku Singh in an IPL match, has had a remarkable redemption with his India call-up.

(With PTI inputs)

India B registered an emphatic 76-run victory over India A in the Duleep Trophy 2024-25 match on Sunday at M Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru. Chasing 275, India A were bundled out for 198 in their second innings as left-arm seamer Dayal (3/50), with able support from his colleagues Mukesh Kumar (2/50) and Navdeep Saini (2/41), led the India B attack. Amid this thrilling encounter, wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant, who was playing for India B, grabbed everyone’s attention due to his hilarious antics.

In the 41st over of India A’s chase, Kuldeep Yadav smashed a boundary on the fifth delivery of Sai Kishor’s over. Seeing this, Pant, who was standing behind the stumps, asked all the fielders to come closer as he anticipated that Kuldeep would be taking a single on the last delivery.

As Pant made the fielding changes, Kuldeep told him that he will not be taking a single. Hearing this, Pant hilariously asked him to swear on his mother.

Rishabh Pant – sab aage aao, ye single lega (everyone come close, he’ll take the single).

Kuldeep Yadav – main nahi luga (I won’t take the single).

Pant – Maa Kasam khale nahi lega (take mom’s swear then). pic.twitter.com/Pmn6h55qxw

— Faiz Fazel (@theFaizFazel) September 8, 2024

“Main nahi lunga. (I won’t take a single),” said Kuldeep. “Maa Kasam khale nahi lega,” replied Pant.

Talking about the match, in the first session of the day, India B made 184 all out in their second essay to muster a handy overall lead of 274.

Earlier, resuming from their overnight score of 150 for six India B could only 34 runs more to the total before getting bundled out.

Pacer Akash, whom Sarfaraz Khan carted around for five fours in a row the previous day, found his mojo to add the scalps of Washington Sundar and Saini to complete a five-wicket haul (5/56).

“My preparation was really good with my father. I had done well in Ranji so I knew I could get an opportunity here. Every ball I was encouraging him from the non-striker’s end to play it out (his partnership with Saini). I think it was only the first or second time for me to take catches at short leg,” said batter Musheer Khan, who won the Player of the Match award.

(With PTI Inputs)

A hilarious moment was captured on Day 4 of the Duleep Trophy match between India A and India B in Bengaluru. Before the start of the final day’s play, India B star Rishabh Pant decided to poke fun at the India A players with a hilarious act. As India A captain Shubman Gill was giving a speech to the players, Pant sneaked his way into the team huddle. While Gill and some of the players were unfazed by Pant’s shenanigans, pacer Avesh Khan decided to have a conversation with the India B star.

Look who was there in the India A huddle before the start of the day’s play #DuleepTrophy| @IDFCFIRSTBank

Follow the match https://t.co/Oke5l0BJpq pic.twitter.com/MxL8Pv05dV

— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) September 8, 2024

Here’s how internet reacted:

— The Pullshot (@The_pullshot) September 8, 2024

Agent Rishabh Pant

— Adi (@playerof11) September 8, 2024

Real imposter

— Rohit.Bishnoi (@The_Kafir_boy) September 8, 2024

Meanwhile, India B were closing in on a victory after reducing India A to 132/6 at Tea. KL Rahul was batting on 50 while Kuldeep Yadav was also not out on a score of 6.

Yash Dayal made early inroads with the ball after India B were bowled out for 184 in the second innings. Dayal claimed the wickets of Mayank Agarwal, Riyan Parag and Dhruv Jurel to put India A on the backfoot.

On Day 3, a counter-attacking 61 by wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant, where he showed glimpses of his best self with the bat, helped India B extend their lead to 240 runs against India A at stumps.

On a day on which 14 wickets fell, Navdeep Saini and Mukesh Kumar led the way for India B to take a first-innings lead of 90 after bowling out India A for 231 in 72.4 overs. In their second innings, India B lost three wickets quickly – two of which were taken by Akash Deep.

Under pressure, Pant stitched a stand of 72 runs off 55 balls for the fourth wicket with Sarfaraz Khan (46 off 36 balls) and went to get his first fifty on return to red-ball cricket. But with him and Nitish Kumar Reddy falling in the last 30 minutes meant India A got something to smile, even though India B have a big lead in hand now.

In the morning, resuming from 134/2 in 35 overs, India B found early success as Yash Dayal strangled Riyan Parag down leg, with Pant moving across to his left to complete the catch. Saini came in to trap Dhruv Jurel lbw, followed by Washington Sundar getting some sharp dip and turning to castle a paddle-sweeping K.L Rahul.

Shivam Dube was in hit-and-miss mode during his stay at the crease, before edging to a second slip off Mukesh, who then trapped Kuldeep Yadav lbw. Tanush Kotian showed some fight, but an inside edge popping to the short leg off R Sai Kishore ended his resistance. After Mukesh had Akash caught at short leg, Kishore ended India A’s innings in 72.4 overs by castling Khaleel Ahmed.

(With PTI Inputs)

A menace behind the sticks, India star Rishabh Pant just keeps on giving and giving, when it comes to on-field banter. On his return to red ball cricket after a gap of almost two years, Pant was on full banter mode during the Duleep Trophy match between India A and India B in Bengaluru. From teasing opposition batters to sneaking into their team huddle, Pant entertained fans with his antics on the field. However, best bit came during the final day of the match, with India B chasing a win against India A. The incident happened in the 44th over of India A’s chase with Kuldeep Yadav batting alongside Akash Deep.

Pant was seen playing some mind games with Kuldeep, who couldn’t help but laugh due to the tantrums thrown by the former.

Pant was constantly chirping behind the stumps, asking Kuldeep to take a single. He also asked his teammates to let him take a single, claiming that he has a plan in place to get Kuldeep out.

“Teri marzi hai, tu chakka maar ya single le. Bhai, lene do ise single. Iske liye bahut tagda plan banaya hai,” Pant was caught as saying on the stump mic.

“Thik hai bhai, kyun itna pareshan ho raha hai?” Kuldeep, who couldn’t control his laughter, told Pant.

“Out hoja jaldi,” Pant responded.

Rishabh Pant teasing Kuldeep Yadav#DuleepTrophy2024 pic.twitter.com/Pj5swF5l7T

— (@saad157614) September 8, 2024

He even went on to predict that Kuldeep will get out inside the next three overs.

Rishabh Pant – sab aage aao, ye single lega (everyone come close, he’ll take the single).

Kuldeep Yadav – main nahi luga (I won’t take the single).

Pant – Maa Kasam khale nahi lega (take mom’s swear then). #rishabhpant #DuleepTrophy #cricket #bcci pic.twitter.com/zd8d6CrGWP

— Shivam pachouri (@Shivampachour13) September 8, 2024

And two overs later, Kuldeep chipped Washington Sundar‘s effort straight to short extra-cover, with Musheer Khan taking a routine catch.

Following Kuldeep’s dismissal, Pant was over the moon and was heard as saying: “Yeah, out ho gaya out ho gaya”.

Rishabh Pant To Kuldeep at 45th over : “agle teen over me tu OUT hai”

47.1 : Kuldeep Yadav OUT

Pant : “yeaah out hogya out hogya” pic.twitter.com/tbM8r4ryXE

— Aryan (@NotThatAryann) September 8, 2024

Meanwhile, Musheer’s first-innings knock of 181 set the base for India B’s 76-run win over India A in the Duleep Trophy first round match.

On the opening day of the match, Musheer impressed everyone with his temperament and grit to score a magnificent 181 runs in 373 balls – his third first-class cricket century. He also hit 16 fours and five sixes, to take India B from 94/7 to 321 in first innings. The total was enough for them to take a 90-run lead and eventually win the game.

(With IANS Inputs)

Musheer Khan in action during Duleep Trophy 2024.© X (formerly Twitter)

KL Rahul’s gumption, which helped him pile a patient fifty, found no resonance among his colleagues as India B pacers led by Yash Dayal pushed India A to a 76-run defeat on the fourth and final day of their Duleep Trophy match on Sunday. Chasing 275, India A were bundled out for 198 in their second innings as left-arm seamer Dayal (3/50), with able support from his colleagues Mukesh Kumar (2/50) and Navdeep Saini (2/41), led the India B attack. Rahul top-scored for ‘A’ with a 51.

In the first session of the day, India B made 184 all out in their second essay to muster a handy overall lead of 274.

The India A chase began on a shaky note as Mayank Agarwal departed in the second over itself, wafting Dayal away from his body to Nitish Kumar Reddy, who made a wonderful diving catch at second slip.

That brought Riyan Parag to the middle and the right-hander followed the path set on Saturday by Rishabh Pant and Sarfaraz Khan.

Parag took on the bowlers and pacer Mukesh bore the brunt of his aggression, getting smoked for two sixes and the second maximum touched the roof of the Chinnaswamy Stadium over the mid-wicket region.

Parag added 48 runs for the second with a rather subdued Shubman Gill, who was dropped by Nitish Reddy at slips off Mukesh on 16, and 31 came off the former’s bat in just 18 balls.

But the approach was tough to sustain considering the kind of assistance the bowlers were getting here, and soon his massive hoick off Dayal took an edge off Parag’s bat en route to stumper Rishabh Pant.

Gill (21) departed soon, falling to Saini for the second time in the match and on this occasion, he edged the pacer to Pant.

Dhruv Jurel poked Dayal well outside off-stump to Yashasvi Jaiswal at gully, as India batters perished to a combination of bowlers’ persistence on that channel and their own carelessness.

They took the lunch at a queasy 76 for four that soon transpired into 99 for six after the dismissal of Shivam Dube and Tanush Kotian, an hour into the lunch.

However, Rahul batted out 180 minutes 121 balls and milked 42 runs for the seventh wicket with Kuldeep Yadav to delay the inevitable.

The standout shot in an otherwise dour innings was a whistling on drive off Mukesh that fetched him a boundary.

But Mukesh had his revenge soon when Rahul feathered a cut off him to Pant, who completed five catches in this innings, soon after reaching his fifty with a single off Saini.

It effectively signalled the end of the road of for India A, though Akash Deep (43, 42b, 3×4, 4×6) gave a few moments of fun with a cavalier innings.

But beyond the entertainment value, it always was a case of when more than if.

Earlier, resuming from their overnight score of 150 for six India B could only 34 runs more to the total before getting bundled out.

Pacer Akash, whom Sarfaraz Khan carted around for five fours in a row the previous day, found his mojo to add the scalps of Washington Sundar and Saini to complete a five-wicket haul (5/56).

The spell will keep his name floating among the contenders when the selectors sit together soon to pick up squad for two-match Test series against Bangladesh.

Team India stars Rishabh Pant and Kuldeep Yadav were involved in an hilarious exchange on Day 3 of a Duleep Trophy match in Bengaluru. The incident came after India A spinner Kuldeep came out to bat before his team was dismissed for 231 runs as India B took a 90-run lead having scored 321 runs in their first innings. However, Pant, who slammed a half-century in the second innings for India B, decided to poke fun at his India and Delhi Capitals (DC) teammate Kuldeep.

Pant was seen sledging Kuldeep as he put his fingers inside the latter’s helmet. However, Pant did not stop there as he also pulled Kuldeep’s hand and jersey as he was walking in the middle to take guard.

The hilarious moment was caught by the cameraman and it has now gone viral on social media.

Rishab Pant and Kuldeep Behind the-scene.

DC blood.#DuleepTrophy #rishabhpant #Kuldeep

pic.twitter.com/3dxewIrl3T

— Sa HiB (LQ) (@SaHib__143) September 7, 2024

Kuldeep scored a solitary run as India A were bowled out for 231 on Day 2, handing India B a 90-run lead in the first innings.

In the second innings, Pant, who scored just seven runs in the first, hit a quickfire half-century off just 34 balls, smashing seven fours and one six.

India B needed their bowlers to carry on the excellent effort of Musheer Khan (181, 373b, 16×4, 5×6) that powered ‘B’ to 321 in their first innings.

For India A, KL Rahul top-scored with a 37 while Mayank Agarwal also scored 36. Captain Shubman Gill managed a mediocre 25 while Riyan Parag could only muster 32.

Earlier on Day 2, Musheer was all timing and confidence in the first session as the Mumbai batter continued to pile runs in the company of Saini.

Musheer, who resumed from overnight 105, added 76 more runs to his individual score, following the template from the first day of him controlling a large chunk of strike.

Saini too gave him solid support, reaching his second First-Class fifty, as India B went through second successive session without losing a wicket, while adding 88 runs off 30 overs.

But Musheer’s 484-minute stay at the crease ended in the second over after lunch when he clanged Kuldeep Yadav to Parag in the deep.

(With PTI Inputs)

After scoring just seven runs in the first innings, India B star Rishabh Pant was back to his best in the second innings of a Duleep Trophy match against India A in Bengaluru. Pant, who is playing his first red-ball game in nearly two years, got out cheaply in the first innings after mistiming his shot. However, the wicketkeeper-batter helped India B keep a stronghold on the proceedings against India A as he smashed a 34-ball half-century. Pant hit nine 4s and two maximums before falling on 61 (47) to Tanush Kotian.

Pant started his knock with some exquisite strokes off India A pacers Avesh Khan and Khaleel Ahmed, who got him out in the first innings.

He also hit Kuldeep Yadav for a four and six in the 21st over before taking a single to reach the 50-run milestone.

Watch: Rishabh Pant back to his best in Duleep Trophy

Spidey Rishabh Pant is back in red ball cricket and back with scoring runs.

Made brilliant 61 of 47 balls, his form is very crucial before going into BGT, Good to see him scoring runs, the way he used to be.pic.twitter.com/T6jX2l5yPu

— Sujeet Suman (@sujeetsuman1991) September 7, 2024

Rishabh Pant vs Kuldeep Yadav pic.twitter.com/zbsBbnkJlF

— PantMP4. (@indianspirit070) September 7, 2024

Rishabh pant taking revenge from khaleel pic.twitter.com/ckfxvNErg6

— PantMP4. (@indianspirit070) September 7, 2024

Meanwhile, Pant last played a First Class match in December 2022 when India played Bangladesh in a two-match Test series. 

The star wicketkeeper-batter suffered a life-threatening car crash later that month, sustaining career-ending injuries. 

However, Pant made his comeback to cricket earlier this year in the Indian Prermier League (IPL), before featuring for India in the T20 World Cup-winning campaign.

Pant is one the several stars featuring in the Duleep Trophy, hoping to secure a place in India’s squad for the upcoming Test series against Bangladesh, starting September 19.

Pant’s half-century might just be enough to secure his place in the team, especially with the squad likely to be announced after the first round of matches.

At the end of Day 3, Pant and Sarfaraz Khan helped India B waddle past persistent India A pacers to post a momentum grabbing second innings total of 150 for six.

India B are now ahead by 240 runs with Washington Sundar (6) at crease after bowling out their rivals for 231 in their first innings to take a 90-run lead.

(With PTI Inputs)