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India Blue ease into Duleep Trophy final after batting practice on final day
GREATER NOIDA: Mayank Agarwal followed upon his first-innings century with a half-century before India Blue eased into the final of the Duleep Trophy on the basis
GREATER NOIDA: Mayank Agarwal followed upon his first-innings century with a half-century before India Blue eased into the final of the Duleep Trophy on the basis of the first innings lead after their game against India Green ended in a draw on Wednesday.
Resuming on their overnight 85 for no loss in the second innings, Agarwal, skipper Gautam Gambhir, who completed his second fifty of the game, Dinesh Karthik and Sheldon Jackson, a first-innings centurion, all helped themselves to half-centuries.
With only one result possible, India Green batsmen Murali Vijay (73 off 96 balls) and Robin Uthappa (66 off 61 balls) played entertaining innings before play ended in a draw.
Gambhir said: “I thought the toss was crucial, but that is not in our hands. Putting 700 runs on the board was crucial. It was a very professional performance. I have always believed that a good team makes a good captain.”
He praised Mayank Agarwal, who was named Man-of-the-Match for his first-innings 161. “He is a talented cricketer who keeps a cool head. If he can keep learning and continue improving, he’s got a bright future.”
dhawan, rohit for final
India opener Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma will feature in the Duleep Trophy final starting here on September 10 while Test skipper Virat Kohli will not be playing, according to the India Red and Blue squads released by the BCCI.
From among the other members of the West Indies Test tour, Cheteshwar Pujara already played for India Blue. Amit Mishra, Stuart Binny and Ravindra Jadeja will also play in the final.
Desperate for practice after spending the West Indies tour largely on the bench, Rohit Sharma has also made himself available for the three-day practice match between Mumbai and the visiting New Zealand to be played in New Delhi from September 16. But Ajinkya Rahane is not part of the 15-member Mumbai squad. It is learnt he has been asked to report for a training camp in Bengaluru from September 18. It is possible that Rohit might not be selected for the first Test against New Zealand, starting in Kanpur on September 22.
Brief scores: India Blue 707 & 298 (G Gambhir 59, M Agarwal 58, S Jackson 79*, D Karthik 57, S Gopal 4/53, P Ojha 3/90); India Green 237 & 179/4 (M Vijay 73, R Uthappa 66, K Sharma 2/68)
