Struggles of India B's Suryakumar Yadav in Duleep Trophy 2024: A tale of two innings

New Delhi: Suryakumar Yadav's performance in his Duleep Trophy comeback was underwhelming, scoring only 5 and 16 runs after recovering from a thumb injury. Despite high expectations following his return to the team after missing the first two games, Suryakumar was unable to make a significant impact. His efforts were thwarted in both innings by his World Cup-winning teammate Arshdeep Singh, who dismissed him early on.

India D claimed a consolation win over India B as Arshdeep Singh took career-best First-Class figures of 6/40 in Anantapur. Adding some comedy to the match, Arshdeep, post Suryakumar Yadav’s dismissal, half-teased him, saying: “Aise khelna chahiye tha” (That’s how you should have played it) while playing out an over-the-top impression of Suryakumar’s shot, and then laughing with his teammate.

Arshdeep Singh was in contention for his maiden India Test call-up, but the BCCI selection committee under Ajit Agarkar opted for Yash Dayal and Akash Deep to be their third and fourth pacers in the Bangladesh series. While Arshdeep went about his initial few matches adequately, Dayal’s ability to swing the ball both in the air and off the wicket swung the decision. Akash too had a creditable performance taking 2/19 in the first innings and enjoying an entertaining 17 runs during India’s first innings.

For Suryakumar Yadav, Duleep Trophy might have been an opportunity to present his case for a spot in the Test team, especially since his last outing was against Sri Lanka in the T20Is. He has played just one Test since then – against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy wherein he could score only 8 off 20 balls.