The second round of the Duleep Trophy 2024 got underway on Thursday in Anantpur, with India A and India B taking on India C and India D, respectively. Last week, India B thumped India A in Bengaluru, while India C edged out India D in Anantpur. Majority of the players, who were selected for the 1st Test against Bangladesh, including Rishabh Pant, K L Rahul and Shubman Gill, were rested for the second round of Duleep Trophy. Initially, BCCI’s release announcing the teams for the second round of the Duleep Trophy matches, did not have the wicketkeeper-batter’s name. 

However, on Thursday, Ishan Kishan came on to bat for India C at No. 4 position. Kishan, who lost his central contract earlier this year, scored 111 off 126 balls with the help of 14 fours and three sixes.

Unfortunately for fans, the match was neither televised nor streamed by the BCCI. On the other hand, there was proper coverage for the match between India A and India D.

As a result, fans were not able to witness Kishan taking the India B bowlers to cleaners. Due to the blackout, fans slammed the BCCI for not televising or streaming the India B vs India C match.

Here’s how Internet reacted:

It’s genuinely a shame that the richest cricket board can’t even telecast two domestic games at the same time. After all the hype the Duleep Trophy got, it’s absurd to think that you can only watch one of the two games.

— Yash (@CSKYash_) September 12, 2024

Disappointed from BCCI. Only two games and you cannot even stream them together.

— Kaushik Kashyap (@CricKaushik_) September 12, 2024

– Not even a single ball bowled in Afghanistan vs New Zealand test match in 4 days

– No live telecast of India B vs India C

– No availability of drs in India B vs India C match

This is the situation of the richest cricket board BCCI #ShameonBCCI #DuleepTrophy

— Aryan Bansal (@aryan_cskian) September 12, 2024

Duleep trophy ka telecast 1 hi mtch tk tha kya…..ye domestic ko utha rhe ho….mtch v boring wala dikha rhe ho…wahn isan khelra wo dikao#IshanKishan

— (@spneerj) September 12, 2024

#BCCI IS A SHAME….!!!!!!!

1. They can’t even arrange a Test match at Greater Noida, not a single ball has been bowled yet .

2. They can’t even telecast two simultaneous #DuleepTrophy

matches , despite making such hype .

Worst Cricket Board.#RuturajGaikwad #Cricket #Test pic.twitter.com/9cMzhWbS9O

— Pratyush Halder (@pratyush_no7) September 12, 2024

Meanwhile, Kishan had missed the first round match due to an injury. He was initially part of the India D squad, before being replaced by Sanju Samson.

Kishan had garnered negative publicity after he returned midway from India’s Tour of South Africa due to personal reasons late last year. Since then, he has not been considered for the national team though he is one of most aggressive options as wicketkeeper-batter in the country. 

Earlier, it was reported that his perceived reluctance to feature in domestic cricket was a likely reason behind him being ignored for international series. However, when he was named for the Duleep Trophy first round of matches, it was seen as a positive step.

Ishan Kishan marked his First-Class return after well over a year with a wonderful hundred, the backbone of India C’s day one total of 357 for five against India B in the Duleep Trophy match in Anantpur on Thursday. Kishan’s 111 (126b, 14×4, 3×6) lifted India C from a slightly wobbly 97 two after they lost Rajat Patidar (40) and B Sai Sudharsan (43) in quick succession. The innings also underlined the fitness of the 26-year-old, who was originally in India D squad, as he missed the first round of Duleep Trophy with a groin injury.

Sanju Samson was drafted in as Kishan’s replacement in India D squad, necessitating the redrafting of the former into India C.

Cutting back to the match, India C’s situation was compounded by skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad’s return to the hut with an ankle niggle after facing just two balls.

However, any major concern over Gaikwad’s fitness was allayed when he came out to bat after Kishan’s dismissal, making an unbeaten 46 (50b, 7×4, 2×6) to guard the crease along with Manav Suthar (8 batting).

But the day belonged to Kishan, who added another solid brick to his comeback trial into red-ball cricket.

The left-hander had made a hundred in Jharkhand’s opening round win over Madhya Pradesh in the recently concluded Buchi Babu Invitational tournament in Tamil Nadu.

That game in Coimbatore was his first red-ball match after the Test against the West Indies at Port of Spain in July 2023, and he carried on with his redemption act here as well.

He had Baba Indrajith (78, 136b, 9×4) for the company as the pair milked 189 runs for the third wicket stand to take India C to a commanding position.

Indrajith also had a slice of fortune as the Tamil Nadu batter had edged pacer Navdeep Saini to Sarfaraz Khan at slips just before lunch, and he walked off.

But Indrajith was called back to resume batting as Saini had overstepped during that delivery.

However, all this drama at the other end did not ruffle Kishan as he continued to dismantle India B bowlers.

Kishan played late and close to his body to nip the early movement and it was evidenced in the 10 boundaries he got across square and fine leg regions.

He had to make that technical adjustment as spinners – R Sai Kishore and Rahul Chahar – bowled just 17 overs between them this day.

Occasionally, power overshadowed his general finesse on the day as well, as whenever the opportunity presented itself, the left-hander was not hesitant to flex his muscles.

He hammered Saini for two sixes in the fine leg region and once lifted Mukesh Kumar over mid-wicket for maximums.

Eventually, he was bowled by pacer Mukesh, the most successful India bowler with three wickets, but he has already placed India C in a position of strength.

After Kishan’s departure, India C received a further move-on as Gaikwad came back and added some quick runs to push India B against the wall.

Brief score: India C: 357/5 in 79 overs (Ishan Kishan 111, Baba Indrajith 78, Ruturaj Gaikwad 46 batting; Mukesh Kumar 3/76) vs India B.

Ishan Kishan was in the news again on Thursday as he made a surprise appearance in the India C team for the Duleep Trophy match against India B at the Rural Development Trust Stadium B, Anantapur. Initially, BCCI’s release announcing the teams for the second round of the Duleep Trophy matches, did not have the wicketkeeper-batter’s name. However, on Thursday, Ishan Kishan came on to bat for India C at No. 4 position. 

He scored 111 off 126 balls. The innings included 14 fours and three sixes. 

We got Ishan Kishan century clip!

So proud of him and emotional today this is big for us King@ishankishan51 #IshanKishan #DuleepTrophy #DuleepTrophy2024 pic.twitter.com/1RacOucQ3V

— Ishan’s (@IshanWK32) September 12, 2024

He was initially named in India D squad for the first round of Duleep Trophy matches. 

Then, on September 4, BCCI said in a release, “Wicket-keeper batter Ishan Kishan has been ruled out of the first round of the Duleep Trophy due to a groin injury sustained during the ongoing All-India Buchi Babu Tournament. The BCCI Medical Team is closely monitoring his condition and working towards ensuring a swift recovery.” 

In the same release, BCCI also named the India C and India D squads for the first round of matches, which was, “India C: 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, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Aditya Thakare, Harshit Rana, Tushar Deshpande, Akash Sengupta, KS Bharat (WK), Saurabh Kumar, Sanju Samson (WK)” 

Later on September 10, the BCCI wrote in a release announcing squads for Duleep Trophy second round, “Team C squad remains unchanged for the second round. Updated 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.”

Hence, Kishan’s name was not there in both the squads.

Kishan had garnered negative publicity after he returned midway from India’s Tour of South Africa due to personal reasons late last year. Since then, he has not been considered for the national team though he is one of most aggressive options as wicketkeeper-batter in the country. 

Earlier, it was reported that his perceived reluctance to feature in domestic cricket was a likely reason behind him being ignored for international series. However, when he was named for the Duleep Trophy first round of matches, it was seen as a positive step.  

A setback for India C, captain Ruturaj Gaikwad retired hurt after facing just two balls in their Duleep Trophy 2024 match against India B at the Rural Development Trust Stadium B in Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh on Thursday. Gaikwad, who managed to hit a four on the first ball he faced, twisted his ankle on the next delivery and was forced to leave the field. India B won the toss and opted to bowl first, putting India C on the back foot early. Despite the early blow of losing their captain, India C managed to recover with a solid partnership between Sai Sudharsan and Rajat Patidar.

However, Gaikwad, who is the Chennai Super Kings captain, came on to bat later on.

Sudharsan scored 43 runs off 75 balls, while Patidar contributed 40 runs from 67 balls. The duo shared a crucial 92-run stand for the second wicket, facing 140 balls in total.

After their promising partnership, both batters were dismissed in quick succession, leaving Ishan Kishan and Baba Indrajith to rebuild the innings.

Reports said that Gaikwad twisted his ankle while running after facing a delivery from pacer Mukesh Kumar. Although he had to retire hurt, the injury is not considered serious, and he is expected to bat in the second innings. Gaikwad has had a challenging period in his red-ball cricket career recently.

The 27-year-old was named in India’s Test squad for the two-match series against South Africa last December but was ruled out due to a finger injury. In his first-class career, Gaikwad has played 30 games, amassing 2,092 runs with six centuries and ten fifties.

His first-class, List A, and T20 debuts came during the 2016-17 season for Maharashtra. Captain of India B Abhimanyu Easwaran won the toss and elected to bowl first.

India C’s: Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Sai Sudharsan, Rajat Patidar, Ishan Kishan, Baba Indrajith, Abhishek Porel (Wk), Anshul Kamboj, Mayank Markande, Manav Suthar, Vyshak Vijay Kumar, and Sandeep Warrier.

India B: Abhimanyu Easwaran, Narayan Jagadeesan (Wk), Musheer Khan, Sarfaraz Khan, Rinku Singh, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Sai Kishore, Navdeep Saini, Rahul Chahar, and Mukesh Kumar.

Indian cricket team wicket-keeper batter Ishan Kishan made a surprise appearance for India C during the Duleep Trophy second round match against India B at Rural Development Trust Stadium B in Anantapur on Thursday. Kishan did not play the first round of Duleep Trophy matches due to a groin injury he picked up while playing for Jharkhand in the Buchi Babu tournament. Following the announcement of India’s squad for the first Test match against Bangladesh, a lot of changes were made to the Duleep Trophy squads but Kishan did not feature in the announcement. As a result, fans were left stunned when he was named in the India C playing XI for the match against India B.

BRING BACK ISHAN KISHANpic.twitter.com/dhxohg2NPU

— Virat Kohli (Parody) (@imVKohji) September 11, 2024

Kishan was initially part of the India D squad but Sanju Samson was named as his replacement after he missed the first round of matches. The other thing that confused the fans was the fact that BCCI said in its media release that no changes were made to the India C squad.

Ishan Kishan completed his most needed half century in Duleep trophy in only 48 balls

So proud of him!!@ishankishan51 #IshanKishan#DuleepTrophy #DuleepTrophy2024 pic.twitter.com/wJ5Cx583K5

— Ishan’s(@IshanWK32) September 12, 2024

The squads for second round of ongoing Duleep Trophy starting from September 12 were announced on Tuesday by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), with star players Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, Kuldeep Yadav among those omitted.

#IshanKishan is batting . It’s a golden chance boy . Make it big and put ur case for #TeamIndia selection.

score credit : Cricinfo#IshanKishan pic.twitter.com/jxAsyStIfr

— Satvinder Meel (@s4sattu) September 12, 2024

A statement from BCCI said, “The Men’s Selection Committee have announced certain changes for the second round of the Duleep Trophy starting from 12th September in Anantapur.” India A Captain Gill, Rahul, Dhruv Jurel, Kuldeep and Akash Deep have been named in India’s Test squad for the series against Bangladesh and will not feature in the upcoming round.

Ishan was announced as 1st choice wk for india d for 1st round then he got ruled out due to groin injury & sanju replaced him in d side, then he was not part of any squad for 2nd round but right now he is in playing 11 of India C which was announced as unchanged for 2nd round pic.twitter.com/V2BsZow9xA

— Vishal (@Fanpointofviews) September 12, 2024

The selectors have named Pratham Singh (Railways) as a replacement for Gill, Akshay Wadkar (Vidarbha CA) as a replacement for KL Rahul and SK Rasheed (Andhra CA) as a replacement for Jurel. Left-arm spinner Shams Mulani will replace Kuldeep in the squad whereas Aaqib Khan (UPCA) will replace Akashdeep in the squad.

Mayank Agarwal has been named as the Captain of India A.

Updated 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’s Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rishabh Pant have been named in India’s squad and the selectors have named Suyash Prabhudessai and Rinku Singh as replacements respectively. Fast bowler Yash Dayal has received his maiden national call-up while Sarfaraz Khan, who too has been named in India’s squad, will feature in the second-round game. Himanshu Mantri (Madhya Pradesh CA) has been added to the squad.

Updated 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)

As Axar Patel will join Team India from Team D, he will be replaced by Nishant Sindhu (Haryana CA). Tushar Deshpande is ruled out of the second round owing to a niggle and he will be replaced by India A’s Vidwath Kaverappa.

Updated 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

(With IANS inputs)

India B vs India C Day 1 LIVE, Duleep Trophy 2024© X (Twitter)

India B vs India C Day 1 LIVE, Duleep Trophy 2024© X (Twitter)

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.

All-rounder Rinku Singh received the nod from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for the second round matches of the ongoing Duleep Trophy 2024. Rinku comes in as a replacement player in the India B squad after the likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rishabh Pant had to withdraw following their selection for the senior men’s Test series against Bangladesh. The second round matches in the Duleep Trophy starting from 12th September. The BCCI also revealed in a release that India A Captain Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, Dhruv Jurel, Kuldeep Yadav and Akash Deep have been named in India’s Test squad for the series against Bangladesh and will not feature in the upcoming round.

The selectors have named Pratham Singh (Railways) as a replacement for Gill, Akshay Wadkar (Vidarbha CA) as a replacement for KL Rahul and SK Rasheed (Andhra CA) as a replacement for Jurel. Left-arm spinner Shams Mulani will replace Kuldeep in the squad whereas Aaqib Khan (UPCA) will replace Akashdeep in the squad.

Mayank Agarwal has been named as the Captain of India A.

Updated 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’s Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rishabh Pant have been named in India’s squad and the selectors have named Suyash Prabhudessai and Rinku Singh as replacements respectively. Fast bowler Yash Dayal has received his maiden national call-up while Sarfaraz Khan, who too has been named in India’s squad, will feature in the second-round game. Himanshu Mantri (Madhya Pradesh CA) has been added to the squad.

Updated 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)

As Axar Patel will join Team India from Team D, he will be replaced by Nishant Sindhu (Haryana CA). Tushar Deshpande is ruled out of the second round owing to a niggle and he will be replaced by India A’s Vidwath Kaverappa.

Updated 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

Team C squad remains unchanged for the second round.

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)