Sarfaraz Khan's bid to take a lead from KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer in the race for the middle-order's spot in India's XI for the two-match series against Bangladesh did not find much success but his invaluable tips helped brother Musheer Khan take the honours on Day 1 of Duleep Trophy. Turning up for India B, Sarfaraz was out LBW for 9 off Avesh Khan when he tried to play across the line to a delivery that shaped in. But just before getting out, he gave Musheer the much-needed confidence.

Rescuing India B from a precarious 94/7, Musheer joined hands with fast bowler Navdeep Saini to stitch an unbroken 10-run stand for the eighth wicket against India A on day 1 at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. On his Duleep Trophy debut, Mausheer remained unbeaten on 105 at stumps on Thursday.

The fresh Chinnaswamy pitch had plenty to offer the fast bowlers, which the India A pacers, especially Akash Deep and Avesh Khan, exploited quite well. But Musheer, who came in to bat at No.3, used his own technique to neglect the pace and bounce off the pitch.

He walked down the track multiple times to Avesh and Akash to unsettle the right-arm seamers. It didn't exactly look pretty, but it was mighty effective. Musheer said Sarfaraz urged him to play his natural game and if it included walking to the fast bowlers, so be it.

“My brother and I have the same game. I try to follow whatever he does. In the middle, he only asked me to follow my technique. Usne bola agar tere ko lagta aage bad sakta hai, to aage bad kar khel (If you feel like moving forward, go ahead and do it),” Musheer said post the day’s play.

Together, Musheer and Sarfaraz batted 10 overs in the middle and that was enough to calm the 19-year-old down. Sarfaraz's happiness knew no bounds when Musheer, no stranger to scoring the roughs, hit his third first-class century in only his seventh appearance.

“I wanted to play as many balls as possible without thinking too much about runs. I wanted to bat the whole day, and I was taking it session by session. The ball was swinging and cutting when I came to bat. So, I was trying to play the ball as close to my body as possible, and was looking to avoid those risky shots. I knew runs would eventually come,” he added.

But Musheer was not alone in his rescue mission as late-order batter Navdeep Saini helped him add 108 runs for the unbroken eighth wicket alliance.

“When wickets were falling at the other end, I told myself to play intelligently and look for a partnership. Then Saini bhai gave me a lot of confidence, saying he will play whether it is two balls or six balls in an over, and just keep faith in him.

“He was also able to match my thinking and approach while batting. But generally, I was trying to defend the first three or four balls and then take a single,” he elaborated.

Musheer no stranger to bailing teams out of trouble

Musheer, 19, is no stranger to playing tough knocks. His two first-class centuries for Mumbai before the Duleep success came in almost similar situations. In only his second first-class match, Musheer was given the responsibility of batting at No.3 for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy quarter-final against Baroda.

The side featuring India stars Prithvi Shaw and Ajinkya Rahane were 99/4 at one stage but Musheer showed immaculate maturity. He built small partnerships with Suryansh Shdge (20), Hardik Tamore (57) and Shardul Thakur (17) to push Mumbai's total 384 .

Musheer converted his maiden first-class century into a double and remained unbeaten on 203.

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