5 best batters from Duleep Trophy 2024 who can get an India call-up ft. Ricky Bhui and Devdutt Padikkal
It wasn't the first Duleep Trophy tournament in India's domestic series; but this year, it just meant more. Every good performance had an asterisk of quality for most teams had more international-level players than in a long time.
Every stand-out stat -- like most runs, best average -- carried more weight because there's a general belief that the national team is closing into a transition where opportunities would open up soon. Most of those opportunities would probably be for batters, with some senior-pros closing on Test retirements.
Below, we have sieved a small list from the many batters who grabbed those chances well, not just by the number of runs they scored but the quality -- how, and in what situation they scored. Check it out:
#5 Baba Indrajith (India 'B')
Baba Indrajith has dominated the Duleep Trophy since long before some young fans would have heard about it. Among those who played in this edition, he's the second-highest run-scorer in the Trophy's history, with 831 runs at an average of just under 64, only 60 runs behind Mayank Agarwal in two fewer innings.
He's widely considered among the best players of spin in the country and showed that with his knocks of 72 and 78 in the first two matches against India 'D' and India 'B'. He'd have scored more than the 196 runs he did in six innings if it wasn't for a hamstring injury he suffered in the last match against India 'A'.
He was forced to retire hurt for 34* in the first innings, came on one leg to save the game in the second innings but was out for a duck. Still, for those who watched him here or have done so before, Indrajith's typical calmness under pressure and the ability to shut down the opposition’s momentum stood out again.
India might feel the need for such a player, especially since out-of-favor Cheteshwar Pujara's exit, and Indrajith, with his 5,474 runs in 78 First Class matches already, could be the best possible option.
#4 Devdutt Padikkal (India 'D')
Devdutt Paidkkal came to the Duleep Trophy after a breezy Ranji Trophy where he scored three centuries, including a 193, in six innings but also back-to-back indifferent IPL and Maharaja Trophy (Karnataka's local T20 tournament) seasons.
As one of the stand-out players in the comparatively weak-looking India 'D' side, the Duleep Trophy asked him for a statement showing. And that's what he provided with three fifties in three games for 202 runs at an average of 33.66.
The first two of his fifties came in the middle-order when the openers failed to see off the new ball. The second was a 92 from a position of 6/2 against eventual champions India 'A' when no other specialist batter in the side went past 23.
His final half-ton, an exact 50, came when he was promoted to the top of the order in the final match against India 'B', off 95 balls, and included eight boundaries. Each knock was filled with grit and though he couldn't convert any to a century, he showed why he's one of the best left-handed red-ball batters in the country.
#3 Shashwat Rawat (India 'A')
Among those on the list, 23-year-old Baroda batter Shashwat Rawat is perhaps the farthest to an India call-up. But that's only because he's young and we need to see more of him; if you talk about potential, though, he's right up there.
A stocky left-handed batter, Rawat looked like a force to reckon with in the Duleep Trophy. He got a chance to play only two games after India 'A' lost some of its international stars to India's squad for the Bangladesh Tests but ended up as the third-highest run-scorer with 256 runs in four innings at an average of 85.33.
After getting out for 15 in his first knock against India 'D', Rawat scored a quickfire 64 not-out in the second innings when his team was looking for a declaration. In the next match, against India 'C' with a win necessary, and his team shot down for 36/5 in the first innings, he stood tall with a monumental 124 (250).
The rescue act, with help from the lower order, took the team's score to 297. In the second innings, he once again showed that he could bat in any gear with a 67-ball 53 to help the team declare with a target of 350 and eventually win the title.
He averages around 54 in first-class cricket and was the fifth-highest run-scorer in the last Ranji Trophy. More than his talent, how well he times the ball, especially, down the ground, his temperament makes him worth keeping an eye out on.
#2 Abhimanyu Easwaran (India 'B')
Now, this guy is the opposite of a new talent who hasn't played a lot but has a lot of promise. Abhimanyu Easwaran has been a run-scoring machine for Bengal for as long as one can remember, with unreal consistency to turn up every season and be among the top run-scorers without any massive media coverage.
He has come close to an India debut multiple times but looked past for someone flashier and younger. A small blot his career often carried, mostly without logic, was that according to some people he wasn't great in high-pressure games.
Duleep Trophy is perhaps the best litmus test in that regard and he came out with flying colors, scoring 309 runs in five innings (one fewer than the highest run-scorer), at an average of 77.25, with two magnificent centuries.
He couldn't get a good start in the first game. But in the second, against India 'C', the skipper put up a marathon 157* (286), carrying his bat with more than 47 percent of the team's 332 runs on his back. He followed it up with another 116 (170) in the team's score of 282 against India 'D' in the last match of the tournament.
Easwaran is 29 and in his batting prime. It'd be a shame if he doesn't get that India cap but with contributions like this, he'd be hard to forget for years anyway.
#1 Ricky Bhui (India 'D')
The only thing you can do to get noticed by the national selectors in India is to be in the top five of the run-scoring charts every year, in as many tournaments as you can. Ricky Bhui has done one better by following his Ranji Trophy table-topping performance last season with another one in the 2024 Duleep Trophy.
The Andhra wicketkeeper-batter put up 359 runs at an average of 71.80 with two centuries and a fifty. The centuries just show exactly what he's about, and what we also spoke about in his interview with Sportskeeda in March: both came in the second innings, with wickets falling regularly at the other end.
Since his debut as a youngster for Vidarbha, Bhui has had that savior gene in him. Whenever the going gets tough, he becomes the toughest nut to crack, with his technique becoming compact and his ability to plunder runs in gaps, unshakeable.
His first century came in a losing cause against India 'A' but till the time he was at the crease, it felt like India 'D' would chase the 450+ score. And his second century, a 119 not-out, helped India 'D' a target big enough to win against India 'B'.
There's more than just runs to him: he handled the captaincy succession from Hanuma Vihari in the last Ranji Trophy amid one of the most public controversies in Indian domestic cricket, as professionally as one could. And he's just 27, with enough versatility to score runs across formats consistently.
There's a definite India-level player in there and it'd be great to see how it all pans out.
Special mentions: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sai Sudharsan, Sanju Samson
Though he failed to convert his starts into big scores, India 'C' captain Ruturaj Gaikwad scored 232 runs in six innings. He and India 'D''s Sanju Samson, who smashed a 106 against India 'B' after being relentlessly trolled in the previous games, showed that they are not just IPL superstars.
Tamil Nadu and India 'C''s Sai Sudharsan, 22, also continued his rise as one of the most promising top-order prospects in the country with 211 runs in six innings, including a 111 against India 'A' which almost earned his side a draw.