India B Clinches Victory Despite KL Rahul’s Resilient Effort in the Duleep Trophy 2024-25
India B claimed a comfortable 76-run victory over India A in the Duleep Trophy 2024-25 match, overcoming KL Rahul’s brave half-century on the last day.
The bowling combination of Yash Dayal, Navdeep Saini, and Mukesh Kumar for India B proved vital as they shared seven wickets to secure the victory despite Rahul’s well-controlled 57 off 121 balls.
Key Performances and Match Results
India B 321 (Musheer 181, Saini 56, Akash 4-60) and 184 (Pant 61, Akash 5-56) beat India A 231 (Rahul 37, Mukesh 3-62) and 198 (Rahul 57, Akash 43, Dayal 3-50, Saini 2-41) by 76 runs.
Match Analysis
On the last day of the Duleep Trophy match in Bengaluru, KL Rahul’s discipline kept India B waiting for more than three hours. After lunch, victory had seemed like a formality when India A faltered to 99 for 6 chasing 275. Rahul, who batted at No. 4, denied himself runs he would have pocketed most days because he refused to be cajoled into driving on the up even with cover vacant.
It meant that everything stopped on the scoreboard. Rahul struggled for a half-century off of 99 deliveries, at one point going 55 balls without scoring a boundary. However, he couldn’t help but slash Mukesh Kumar when he showed him some width. As Rishabh Pant dove forward to complete the grab, the ball grasped a suggestion onto the surface to gain the advantage. After Rahul finished his 57-run vigil against 121 balls, India B won by 76 runs.
If Akash Deep hadn’t taken 5 for 56 earlier in the day to ensure that India B were bowled out for 184 after pocketing a 90-run lead in the first innings, including the wickets of Abhimanyu Easwaran, Washington Sundar, and first-innings centurion Musheer Khan, the margin of victory would have been much greater.
One of the other quicks to make an impression was left-arm fast bowler Yash Dayal, whose 3 for 50 set off India A’s second innings collapse. Akash concluded with a match figure of 9 for 116 to put himself in the frame for the Bangladesh Tests, which begin in 10 days.
When he got one to move noticeably off the seam to square him up, he had Mayank Agarwal nicking to second slip in his opening over. Dayal’s second came when Riyan Parag hit Pant with a delicate drive. He was not amused by Parag’s daring short-arm blow, which soared over midwicket for six, and celebrated the wicket with a send-off. Shortly before noon, Dayal scored his third when Dhruv Jurel’s weak drive away from the body struck Yashavi Jaiswal low.
Navdeep Saini, who was impressive in his ability to bring the length ball back in, had Shubman Gill caught behind with a loose drive in between Dayal’s carnage. The match looked set to end quickly until Rahul’s stubbornness took center stage, possibly as a way of making up for his first-innings mishap, in which he was out trying to play a cute paddle sweep off Washington Sundar after fighting his way to 37.
Losing a flurry of wickets left Rahul with two options: going for runs or aiming to carry the game into the final session. He chose the second choice. His willingness to take a hit for his wicket on a pitch that Akash believed was “getting more and more tougher” stood out, even though it wasn’t particularly entertaining.
On the plus side, though, given that Rahul was playing in his first red-ball encounter in more than seven months, there may not have been a greater confirmation of his match fitness, at least not in India. It was not, however, entirely a somber defense. A fast-paced cut shot that quickly reached the fence was one of the two elegant on-drives. Ultimately, he scored seven fours.
Musheer Khan at short leg flicked the ball back onto the stumps after Akash lost his footing while trying to fend off a bumper. Akash’s slogs created some late pyrotechnics, but the fun was short-lived. In 53 overs, India A was bowled out for 198 runs. With the exception of Dayal, Saini claimed two more wickets in addition to his three from the opening session, while Washington and Nitish Reddy both claimed one.
