Navdeep Saini reminded 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, 16×4, 5×6) that powered ‘B’ to 321 in their first innings. KL Rahul (23, 80 balls) and Riyan Parag (27, 49 balls) were at the crease at stumps, with India A in arrears by 187 runs.
Saini, who is out of favour since the 2021 away series against Australia, showed some spark to eke out the wickets of India A skipper Shubman Gill (25) and his opening partner Mayank Agarwal (36).
The right-arm quick broke the first-wicket alliance 57 between Gill and Agarwal at the stroke of tea to give his side the first breakthrough.
Gill, who crunched a couple of exquisite fours off left-arm seamer Yash Dayal, shouldered arms to an incoming delivery that crashed onto the stumps.
Agarwal, who is also on a comeback trail after going out of favour since the 2022 Pink Ball Test against Sri Lanka here, 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.
Pant, who was tidy behind the stumps, made an acrobatic dive to his left to complete a wonderful catch to send back Agarwal.
If Saini, who is playing his first red-ball game since this January, can pick a few more wickets here, the Delhiite can add another page to his comeback chart that now includes appearances for India A sides against England Lions and South Africa A in December-January.
Rahul and Parag were put through the wringer by the pace triumvirate of Saini, Mukesh Kumar and Nitish Kumar Reddy on a pitch that still offered a good bit of assistance to the quicks.
Balls whooshing past the bat and nervy edges underlined the toughness of the passage.
Rahul needed 14 balls to get off the mark, and he was saved by a drop catch at second slip by Nitish off Mukesh when the batter was on three.
Parag, a natural shot-maker, too had to contain his instincts under the prevailing conditions but a glorious drive through the covers off Saini was a pointer to his timing.
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 individual score, following the template from the first day of him controlling a large chunk of strike.
Saini too gave him solid support, reaching his second First-Class fifty, as India B went through 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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