3 player battles to watch out for in India A vs India B 2024 Duleep Trophy clash ft. Rishabh Pant vs Kuldeep Yadav
The 2024 Duleep Trophy will get underway with a match between India A and India B at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru starting Thursday, September 5. Meanwhile, India C will take on India D at the Rural Development Trust Stadium in Anantapur. Both the Duleep Trophy games will start at 9 a.m. IST.
India A will be led by opener Shubman Gill. The side also features Mayank Agarwal, KL Rahul, Tilak Varma, Dhruv Jurel, Shivam Dube, Riyan Parag, Kuldeep Yadav and Avesh Khan, among others.
As for India B, they will be captained by Abhimanyu Easwaran. Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant, Musheer Khan, Washington Sundar and Mukesh Kumar are also part of Team B.
As India A and India B prepare for battle in the Duleep Trophy 2024 match at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, we pick three player battles to watch out for.
#1 Yashasvi Jaiswal vs Avesh Khan
Jaiswal, who will be representing Team B in the 2024 Duleep Trophy, has made a terrific start to his red-ball career for India. In nine matches, he has clubbed 1028 runs at an average of 68.53, with three hundreds and four fifties.
His first-class numbers are equally brilliant. In 24 matches (42 innings), the explosive left-handed batter has smashed 2873 runs at an average of 75.60, with 12 centuries and six half-centuries.
Jaiswal was the Player of the Series when India thumped England 4-1 at home earlier this year. He amassed 712 runs in nine innings at an average of 89, with two hundreds and three fifties.
The 22-year-old will be keen to continue his impressive run in the red-ball format as India prepare for the challenges against Bangladesh and Australia.
Avesh, meanwhile, will be one of the key bowlers for Team A in the 2024 Duleep Trophy. He has not been considered as a Test prospect yet by the Indian selectors, but this tournament gives him a chance to push his case.
The right-arm pacer impressed with 35 wickets for Madhya Pradesh at an average of 16.37 in the 2018-19 Ranji Trophy season. Overall, Avesh has featured in 43 first-class matches and has 165 scalps to his name, averaging 22.49, with eight five-fers and two 10-wicket match hauls.
At the start of the innings, he's likely to come up against Jaiswal, who will look to attack Avesh from the word go. Avesh, though, has enough experience to stand up to the challenge. It will be interesting to see how this battle pans out.
#2 KL Rahul vs Washington Sundar
Rahul will be representing Team A in the 2024 Duleep Trophy. The series will be important for him ahead of the home Tests against Bangladesh, as he hasn't played a lot of red-ball cricket lately due to form and injury issues.
Rahul featured in the first Test of the five-match series against England in January this year. He impressed with scores of 86 and 22 but missed the next four matches after picking up a quadriceps injury in the opening Test in Hyderabad. The right-handed batter will be keen to find rhythm ahead of India's Test challenges.
Rahul has had his issues against slow bowling, so India B could use Washington Sundar to try and keep him under check. Washington has the experience of 27 first-class matches, taking 56 wickets at an average of 30.76, with three five-fers and one 10-wicket match haul.
The 24-year-old off-spinner has played four Test matches in a stop-start career, claiming six wickets. Sundar will be keen to stake a claim for a place in the Test team again by performing well in the Duleep Trophy.
#3 Rishabh Pant vs Kuldeep Yadav
Delhi Capitals teammates Rishabh Pant and Kuldeep Yadav will be opposite camps in the 2024 Duleep Trophy. While Pant will be part of India B, Kuldeep will represent India A.
Pant made a comeback to international cricket during the 2024 T20 World Cup, after recovering from injuries sustained in a car accident. He was also part of the white-ball series in Sri Lanka. However, the keeper-batter last played a Test match in Bangladesh in December 2022, just a few days before his car accident.
Kuldeep has been brilliant for India in the white-ball formats. He has also done well for India in the limited opportunities that he has received in the Test format. In 12 matches, he has 53 wickets at an average of 21.05, with four five-fers.
The left-arm wrist-spinner loves a challenge thrown at him. Pant will look to go after his Delhi Capitals teammate, bringing Kuldeep's variations into play. An intriguing contest seems on the cards.