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Sarfaraz Khan can’t keep calm as brother Musheer Khan scores a century in the Duleep Trophy. Watch

Posted on by darion




India B pacer Musheer Khan was in his prime against India A on the first day of the Duleep Trophy 2024, scoring an unbeaten century. Playing at number three, Musheer persisted and scored an unbeaten 105. After playing his ton, Musheer celebrated in an aggressive manner. However, what was more heartening was seeing Musheer’s elder brother Sarfaraz Khan, an Indian pacer, standing on his feet and clapping for him. A video of the moment went viral on social media.

“Musheer Khan brings his 100th. Special celebration and special appreciation from brother Sarfaraz Khan,” BCCI Domestic wrote while sharing the clip.

Rishabh Pant’s much-awaited return to red-ball cricket lasted just 10 balls and 15 minutes but Musheer’s tenacious, unbeaten hundred powered India B to a respectable 202 for seven against India A on Thursday.

By the time Musheer (105 not out, 227b, 10×4, 2×6) and Navdeep Saini (29 not out, 74b, 4×4, 1×6) responded to India B’s call by scoring 108 for the eighth wicket, they found themselves in a hole at 94 for seven as ‘A’ captain Shubman Gill made the sensible decision to start play under overcast skies.

However, Musheer, the younger brother of Sarfaraz Khan (9), saved his team from total collapse with a performance that belied his 19 years and showed a rare maturity.

When the right-hander came on as the third over in the 14th over after Abhimayu Easwaran fell, the bowlers were in the air and a canopy of dark clouds hung over Chinnaswamy.

Easwaran, who is usually a well-organised batsman, played a free-flowing waft outside off off Avesh Khan’s delivery, while stumper Dhruv Jurel played a wonderful diving catch just ahead of KL Rahul at first slip.

Musheer had more than one worry to iron out. There was noticeable bounce, carry and movement for the India A batsmen, who played for most of the day.

But Musheer dealt with each of these difficulties in his own way as his walking on the track to nullify the traffic was quite a peculiar sight. It was unconventional but effective on the day.

But even on a difficult day, Musheer, who is making his Duleep Trophy debut, showed a glimpse of his elegant personality with a magnificent drive from Avesh that soared towards the net and then a devastating, wobbly left-arm throw from Khaleel Ahmed (2/39).

There was also an element of power as the right-handed pitcher smashed off-spinner Tanush Kotian, hitting two sixes in one inning to take his over to 90.

Musheer also bagged a slice of fortune when Avesh squandered a statutory chance to score when the bowler was on 69. India B were then 144 for seven.

The Mumbai lad, who also had a brilliant season in the Under-19 World Cup and the Ranji Trophy, duly scored a hundred off 205 balls, taking a single off Kuldeep Yadav’s delivery, which he celebrated with gusto.

Saini too should be praised for showing courage and sticking by Musheer’s side when India A lost their fire and momentum in the final session of the day.

But before the Musheer-Saini combination got them back into the game, several of the B batsmen also showed little caution in their shot selection, and none was a better example of this than Pant.

His first red-ball spell since December 2022 ended when his attempt to bowl Akash Deep with a fuller toss resulted in a lead which Gill converted into a wonderful catch in the run-out.

Yashasvi Jaiswal looked to be in fine form during his 30-wicket haul from 59 balls, including six well-played outside-offs including a spectacular drive from Khaleel, but a moment of carelessness ended his stay.

Jaiswal tried to cut the ball to Khaleel past the fielder but there was not enough space to play the shot as substitute Shashwat Kumar held onto the ball after a good catch.

Akash then delivered the ball of the day to remove Nitish Kumar Reddy – the ball bowled to mid-on moved slightly, knocking the timbers as the batsman moved back without scoring a single run in the first ball.

Washington Sundar stepped back too far and was dismissed as India B’s innings reached its critical point.

However, Musheer and Saini helped India B play their best session of the day in the final over and get out of trouble for a while.

(With PTI inputs)

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