After getting off to a good start, the first day’s play in the ongoing India Red - India Blue Duleep Trophy match had to be called off after rain came pouring down early into the second session.
India Blue, who are playing under lights with the pink ball for the first time, were asked to bat by Yuvraj Singh, who had led his team to a thumping win the opening game of the tournament. However, after a couple of nervous moments early into the game, Gautam Gambhir stitched a solid stand with his opening partner, Mayank Agarwal to take the team to 105 without loss until play was called off for the day.
Reflecting on his team’s position, Baba Aparajith, who is looking forward to bat said, “We batted really well. I think we started really well, which was very important. We are playing with the pink ball for the first time while the other team has already played. Mayank said it was a nice wicket to bat. A little bit on the slower side after a point,” he mentioned.
Both the openers settled in after biding their time in the middle to take the team to a comfortable position. Gambhir, who was let off by Pradeep Sangwan in the deep after pulling Nathu Singh even before reaching a double-digit score was batting on 51 with Agarwal on 53 at the end of day’s play.
Analysing the day’s play, India Red opener Abhinav Mukund, who was the team’s mainstay in the first game said, “There was lesser swing than before, maybe because it was really hot in the afternoon session there wasn’t any possibility of swing and we expected the ball to seam around little bit more because (we thought) there was little bit of moisture but it wasn’t there,” while speaking about bowling.
“Credit to them for batting well. We could have taken a couple of chances and it could have been 100 for two or three possibly and the game would have been far more tilted towards us but definitely (if we) comeback and pick a couple of wickets you never know what will happen,” Mukund said while talking about the opposition.
Speaking about the decision to bowl first, Mukund observed, “I think there was a bit of moisture on it and (we wanted to) make most use of it because as you know from the last game, the second and third days were really good for batting, so I thought that could have been the reason.”
Speaking about preparation and batting in the new conditions, Aparajith who will soon get the opportunity to contribute to his team’s total said, “We need to spend some time in the middle actually because we are playing with the pink ball for the first time and that too under lights. I think we need to take some time than normal (red ball) that is my way of seeing.”
