"Playing in the Duleep Trophy" - Kevin Pietersen shares a throwback picture of batting in India's domestic tournament

Former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen has shared a throwback picture on social media where he's seen batting during the 2003-04 Duleep Trophy. The former batter represented England A during the domestic event.

The 2024 edition of the Duleep Trophy is being contested between India A, India B, India C and India D. While all four teams feature Indian players, there were a few editions of the tournament where foreign teams were also invited to participate.

James Tredwell led England A in the 2003-04 Duleep Trophy. Apart from Pietersen, the side also featured Michael Lumb, Matt Prior, Sajid Mahmood and Simon Jones.

On Saturday, September 7, Pietersen took to Instagram and shared a picture of him batting in the Duleep Trophy. He shared the image with a cheeky caption:

"India 2004! Playing in the Duleep Trophy…🇮🇳🩵🙏🏽 This is when I first fell in love with India or should I say, Indian bowlers…! 😂."

Incidentally, Pietersen was the leading run-getter in the 2003-04 Duleep Trophy. In four innings, he scored 345 runs at an average of 86.25, with two hundreds and one fifty. The right-handed batter struck 104 and 115 against South Zone in Gurgaon and 32 and 94 against East Zone in Amritsar.

Despite Pietersen's batting heroics, England A lost both matches in the red-ball tournament. They went down to South Zone by six wickets and to East Zone by 93 runs. Apart from Pietersen, keeper-batter Prior also did reasonably well for England A with the bat, scoring 194 runs in four innings at an average of 64.66, with two half-centuries.

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India C beat India D by four wickets in Match 2 of 2024 Duleep Trophy

Shifting attention to the ongoing edition of the Duleep Trophy, India C beat India D by four wickets in match number two at the Rural Development Trust Stadium in Anantapur. Bowling first, India C knocked over India D for 164. In response, India C were bowled out for 168.

Manav Suthar then starred with 7-49 as India C held India D to 236 in their second innings. Chasing 233, India C got home with four wickets in hand despite Saransh Jain's 4-92.

In the other match at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, India B were 150-6 in their second innings at stumps on Day 3. They have a lead of 240 runs. India B put up 321 batting first before holding India A to 231.