Duleep Trophy | Sudharsan’s ton in vain as Kotian and Krishna star in India A’s Duleep Trophy triumph

Arijit Kundu

ByArijit Kundu, SportsCafe Editor

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India A beat India C by 132 runs in the third-round clash of the Duleep Trophy and emerged as the winners of the honorary tourney. B Sai Sudharsan’s fighting century was not enough as three-fers from Tanush Kotian and Prasidh Krishna wrapped Ruturaj Gaikwad and co. for 217 in a cliffhanger.

To the surprise of the on-air commentators, India A batted for a couple of overs on the morning session of the fourth day to hand over a 350-run lead to the opposition. In yet another surprising move of the day, Vyshak Vijaykumar was seen opening the batting with skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad, adding 38 runs together for the first wicket. Right after, B Sai Sudharsan played a grafter’s role with the captain until Lunch with the score reflecting 78/1 in 29 overs. 

Continuing from where they left in the second session, the right and left-handed pair added 77 runs for the second wicket before Aaqib Khan made miracles with the ball by getting Gaikwad’s number followed by cleaning up Rajat Patidar in a wicket that had hardly anything for the bowlers. While Ishan Kishan tried to counterpunch the opponents with three fours, his stay was shortlived, courtesy of Tanush Kotian’s spin mastery, extracting three wickets in quick time. 

With 188/6, India C was struggling to draw the game but Sudharsan kept them alive with a delightful century under his name. When Sudharsan looked solid as stone with the defense, the reintroduction of Prasidh Krishna yielded rewards for the Agarwal-led unit as Sai Sudharsan was outdone by a hit the deck stuff in the dying moments of the game. While an injured Baba Indrajith strolled out to withstand the attack but his valiance fell short as Krishna cleared the clutter with 19 balls remaining on the day. This helped India A to gain six points and triumph in the prestigious Duleep Trophy by sitting at the top of the points table with twelve points.

What a celebration!

Won it

Fifier for him

Huge impact

Final hour

Poor captaincy

Good grab

Big wicket

Huge season

Rivalry

His stats

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