Skipper Yuvraj Singh might have failed to impress for the second time in the Duleep Trophy opener but that didn’t prevent India Red from taking a huge lead on Day 2 with centuries from Abhinav Mukund and Sudip Chatterjee helping the side complete a remarkable turnaround after being bundled out for 161 runs in the first innings after winning the toss and deciding to bat first.
At stumps on Day 2, which saw the batsmen call the shots compared to the opening day which saw as many as seventeen wickets fall, India Red have built up a lead of 354 runs with seven wickets in hand with Mukund batting on 162 runs while Gurkeerat Singh Mann is at the other end with 28 runs.
It was a day of complete domination by Yuvraj’s side starting with the ball as they picked up the three remaining India Green wickets with the addition of 35 runs to their overnight score of 116 to give India Red a slender 10-run first innings lead. All three wickets were claimed by 20-year-old Nathu Singh, who had earlier in the day earned high praise from Australian fast bowling legend Glenn McGrath, as he ended up with six wickets in the innings.
India Red came out to bat with an aggressive mindset and the move paid as Mukund continued from where he left off in the first innings. Having top-scored with 77 to hand his side a respectable total in the first innings, the 26-year-old was even more impressive this time around carrying his bat through till the end of the day’s play and is unbeaten on 162 runs from 212 balls at a strike rate of 76.42.
He was well supported by Sudip Chatterjee who also adopted a counter-attacking approach to bring up a century of his own at a strike rate of above 60. The duo put on a mammoth 240-run partnership for the second wicket to all bat Suresh Raina’s side out of the contest and with seven wickets still in hand, India Red will fancy their chances of making a winning start to their 2016 Duleep Trophy campaign.
The only downside on the day for India Red was skipper Yuvraj Singh failing to make a big impact as he was dismissed for just 10 runs. However, with opposition skipper Suresh Raina forced to try out as many as seven bowlers, it is India Red who are firmly in the driving seat at stumps on Day 2.
Brief scores: India Red 161 all out & 344/3 (Abhinav Mukund 162*, Sudip Chatterjee 114) lead India Green 151 all out by 354 runs at Stumps on Day 2.
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