Kolkata: There was no valiant final session charge, nor any plucky resistance for a draw from the lower order. KL Rahul tried to wear out the bowlers’ collective patience by refusing to take singles or pierce the vacant covers, Kuldeep Yadav copped a bouncer on his helmet but the result was a foregone conclusion once India A had slipped to 99/6 chasing 275. Rahul held one end up with a defiant 57 off 121 balls till Mukesh Kumar snared an edge with a slower off-cutter and ensured a hassle-free end for India B in the Duleep Trophy in Bengaluru on Sunday.

It still took India B another 13 overs to wrap up a 76-run victory after that 42-run, 17-over long vigil for the seventh wicket had ended. With an entertaining 42-ball 43, Akash Deep (43) boosted his batting credentials after ending with a match haul of 9/116. In hindsight, that cameo could have well been a fitting riposte had India A’s top-order showed more application. But in the face of disciplined fast bowling from India B, all they could do was keep the close-in fielders busy.

Mayank Agarwal poked at a short of length Yash Dayal delivery to slip, Riyan Parag forced at a superb Dayal delivery to Pant, Shubman Gill was lured into a big drive with a full and wide delivery from Navdeep Saini and Dhruv Jurel was all hesitation and nervousness while fishing at a fullish delivery that he couldn’t get past Yashasvi Jaiswal at gully. By the time Tanush Kotian was dismissed first ball, Rahul probably knew the match had slipped out of his hands.

Yet he tried. For nearly three hours, Rahul was all about applying himself and guarding the non-striker. Shivam Dube tried to contribute but his technique was ultimately found out when he closed the face of his bat too early to give a leading edge to Musheer Khan at short cover. Rahul was still concentration personified, going 55 balls without a boundary at one point in time, but the chase was always going to be tough without specialist batters. The only other time India A looked in some sort of shape to chase was when Parag took on Kumar, hammering him for two sixes while adding 48 runs for the second wicket with Gill.

With the fast bowlers getting occasional breakthroughs, India A were never really in the chase. The desperate scenario probably didn’t allow Rahul to open up completely but given this was his first red-ball game in eight months, a patient fifty is probably a good start for him.

There were other, bigger gains from this match too. Musheer impressed with a massive century but in the immediate context of the home season, his older brother Sarfaraz should find himself in a good place after that hurricane 36-ball 46. Pant’s return to Test cricket is more or less set too after the kind of shots he played in a 47-ball 61.

The biggest gain undoubtedly has been the consolidated dominance of the fast bowlers. Khaleel Ahmed, Avesh Khan and Mukesh Kumar bowled well but Akash impressed the most with not only his match haul but also the consistency in engaging batters outside their comfort zone at good pace. Having made his Test debut against England at Ranchi earlier this year, Akash hadn’t played this format for a long time. But Akash said he had been preparing keeping in mind the upcoming international season.

“After my India debut in Ranchi and the IPL, I did not play any competitive match. It’s tough to play a game as a pacer after such a long gap, but I have been practicing since last month,” he said after the match. “We were playing the practice matches as actual games. So, we had that mindset to get our muscles used to that sort of bowling, and it helped me a lot.” With still no certainty over the exact date of Mohammad Shami’s return, this performance will help Akash stay in the selectors’ radar for the Bangladesh Tests.

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