Navdeep Saini reminded everybody of his presence among the fringe pacers with a quality new ball spell that helped India B to keep India A in check at 134 for two in the first innings, after the second day of their Duleep Trophy match in Bengaluru on Friday.
India B needed their bowlers to carry on the excellent effort of Musheer Khan (181, 373b, 16x4, 5x6) who powered ‘B’ to 321 in their first innings.
KL Rahul (23, 80 balls) and Riyan Parag (27, 49 balls) are at the crease at stumps, with India A in arrears by 187 runs.
Saini, who has been out of favour since the 2021 away series against Australia, showed some spark to achieve some difficult wickets for India A skipper Shubman Gill (25) and his opening partner Mayank Agarwal (36).
The right-arm pacer quickly broke the first-wicket alliance 57 between Gill and Agarwal.
Agarwal, who is also on a comeback trail after going out of favour since the 2022 Pink Ball Test against Sri Lanka, looked comfortable during his stay in the middle.
His cover drive off Saini was a lovely piece of timing, but the right-hander soon fell to the same bowler, jabbing a down-the-leg delivery to stumper Rishabh Pant.
Parag and Rahul, who looked far more comfortable as the innings progressed, have added 68 runs for the unbroken third wicket so far.
Musheer was all timing and confidence in the first session of the day as the Mumbai batter continued to pile runs in the company of Saini.
Musheer, who resumed from overnight 105, added 76 more runs to his score, following the template from the first day of him controlling a large chunk of strikes.
Saini too gave him solid support, reaching his second First-Class fifty, as India B went through the second successive session without losing a wicket, while adding 88 runs off 30 overs.
But Musheer’s 484-minute stay at the crease ended in the second over after lunch when he clanged Kuldeep Yadav to Parag in the deep.
It also signalled the end of their stunning 205-run partnership, the highest for the eighth wicket in Duleep Trophy history.
Their stand surpassed the 197 runs added for the eighth wicket by Abhishek Nayar and Ramesh Powar in 2010.
Once Musheer departed, India B innings folded quickly as pacer Akash Deep returned with a haul of four for 60.
Brief scores: India B 321 in 116 overs (Yashasvi Jaiswal 30, Musheer Khan 181, Navdeep Saini 56; Akash Deep 4/60) lead India A 134/2 in 35 overs (Mayank Agarwal 36, Riyan Parag 27, KL Rahul 23; Navdeep Saini 2/36) by 187 runs.
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