Duleep Trophy, IND Blue v IND Green, Day 1 Review: Rasool's fifer provides significant advantage to India Green

In this era where domestic cricket has lost its popularity for all money, some special performances from talented cricketers are the only source of reviving its richness. On Tuesday (September 19) at the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur, we saw one such spectacular performance. Two participating teams entered the field with two different mindsets. Suresh Raina‘s India Blue had already snatched a couple of points, and were definitely more relaxed of the two.

On the other hand, Parthiv Patel’s India Green suffered a defeat in the first game, and needed something extraordinary to happen. That bit of extraordinary work was done by Parvez Rasool, who received considerable support from Aniket Choudhary and Mayank Dagar, as India Blue were left clueless ahead of their onslaught. The phrase ‘morning shows the day’ was proven correct today, as the Blues had a terrible start.

They lost both of their openers, Samit Gohel and Srikar Bharat within just 16 runs. Choudhary was the man to get things going in this otherwise dull Duleep Trophy, as he was the wicket-taken in both the cases. But as we’ve often seen in tournaments like this, today as well two experienced campaigners provided the stability to their innings. Manoj Tiwary and skipper Raina fought their way back into the game, and formed a partnership.

Blues crumble after Raina’s exit

Things were going smoothly for Raina’s men, but again a saying was proven correct today, that if the king falls, his empire follows the same path. The architect behind king’s fall was Parvez Rasool, which opened the floodgates. Raina departed after scoring 40, while last match’s hero Deepak Hooda lasted for only 16 runs. Ishan Kishan must change a thing or two, since getting a series of ducks won’t help him in national team of selection.

Choudhary was the wicket-taker this time, as from 106/2, the Blues were reduced to 125/5. Jaydev Unadkat might have fancied some shots against Reds, but he is not a safe bet to carry your batting lineup through the line everyday, which was seen today as he departed after scoring 3 runs, handing Rasool his 3rd wicket. Bhargav Bhatt tried hard, but Rasool was in no mood to tolerate a tail-ender scoring more than 10 runs.

Things were looking bleak for Blues, but losing Manoj Tiwary was the final nail in the coffin. Batting on 78, Tiwary was undone by Rasool, thereby handing the latter his 5-wicket haul. It was mere formality from thereon as Nitin Saini and Kaushik Gandhi were getting ready to have a go at the Blues’ bowling lineup. After Rasool and Choudhary finished their job, Mayank Dagar decided to add a couple of wickets to his tally, by picking up Akshay Wakhare and Pankaj Singh.

Good start by Saini and Gandhi

Blues badly needed a quick breakthrough to keep the game alive, but credits must be given to opens Saini and Gandhi for establishing their hold firmly. Yet again a vastly experienced player came to Raina’s rescue, as Ishant Sharma provided the first breakthrough, but only after the Greens went past the 50-run mark. Saini’s departure after scoring 25 runs made way for Prashant Chopra, who again established his hold.

Late wickets keeps Blues in the game

But Gandhi and Chopra fell in quick successions, in a span of just 22 runs, giving Panjak Singh and Akshay Wakhare their first joy. At the end of Day 1, the Greens are batting on 100/3. Manprit Juneja is batting on 6, while his partner will come to bat only on Day 2. While 177 is too small a score to be optimistic about a closely contested game, late wickets have somehow managed to keep Blues still in the game. But the picture will be more transparent only on Wednesday, where Blues will try to get early wickets and Greens will try to form long partnerships.

Brief scores

1st innings

India Blue- 177/10 (Manoj Tiwary 78, Suresh Raina 40; Parvez Rasool 70/5, Aniket Choudhary 18/3)

India Green- 100/3 (Kaushik Gandhi 39, Prashant Chopra 26; Ishant Sharma 15/1)