Magnificent Musheer revives India B from 94 for 7

India B 202 for 7 (Musheer 105*, Jaiswal 30, Saini 29*, Akash 2-28, Khaleel 2-39, Avesh 2-42) vs India A

From the characteristic crouch in his stance to the backlift and manner of defending, it’s hard to miss Musheer Khan’s uncanny resemblance to older brother Sarfaraz. And the similarities don’t end there. Both have a penchant for big scores, even if their modus operandi are entirely different.

Sarfaraz is all about gung-ho aggression and there’s an enterprise to his game that’s hard to miss. On Thursday, the opening day of the Duleep Trophy game between India A and India B in Bengaluru, he arched back to ramp his fifth delivery over the close-in cordon off a rip-roaring Khaleel Ahmed, soon after the openers had departed in quick succession.

Musheer is the opposite, even if he can appear crabby and unorthodox at times, and he has been proving to be just as effective. Earlier this year, he finished second on the run charts at the Under-19 World Cup and backed it up with a double-ton, a clutch half-century and a match-winning hundred in the knockout rounds of Mumbai’s victorious Ranji Trophy campaign.

India B desperately needed Musheer’s pluck when they were cut to size by the pace trio of Khaleel, Akash Deep and Avesh Khan. And he delivered: batting for over five hours to eke out an unbeaten 105 that helped lift India B from 94 for 7 to 202 for 7 at stumps.

Having come in at No. 3, Musheer quickly saw the superstars – Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sarfaraz and Rishabh Pant – fall in a heap post-lunch. While batting was difficult, the wickets largely came from shots induced by the pressure the fast bowlers exerted early on.

Abhimanyu Easwaran chased a delivery on the seventh or eighth stump. Jaiswal was caught somewhere in between attempting a drive and a cut, and wafted to point. Sarfaraz was trapped lbw playing around his front pad. Pant was out to a brilliant running catch from Shubman Gill at mid-off, to a leading edge off a ball that bounced more than he may have anticipated. Except for Nitish Reddy, who was out to an unplayable Akash delivery that straightened off the seam to hit the top of off, the top order was largely responsible for their own undoing.

Musheer soaked all of this in from the other end. The fast-bowling trio repeatedly tested his edges; he could have been out caught in the slips off Akash, off the second ball he faced. During his first half hour at the crease, he struggled to gauge the zip off a green-tinged surface where there was exaggerated seam movement.

In a bid to counter it, Musheer tried to walk down the pitch and get outside the line to defend. While this wasn’t a bad ploy in principle, he struggled with his execution early on, especially with Khaleel and Akash darting the ball both ways. Even Shivam Dube’s length balls ducked in faster than Musheer anticipated and hit him on the pad while he was on the move. He survived a close lbw shout on impact.

At lunch, he was on 6 off 52 balls, seemingly unsure of where his runs would come. But where others fell looking to force the pace, Musheer fought through passages even when fluency deserted him and survival seemed his only option.

Every now and then, Akash turned into a wrecking ball of energy, doing unexpected things off the pitch. The ball to Nitish in his second spell was one such example. On another day, Akash could have easily had three wickets in his new-ball spell, but on this day he ended it with figures of 8-3-7-0.

There was more of the same energy from Avesh, introduced as first change, as he built on that early pressure by hitting the deck and getting appreciable movement off the seam. And this relentless pressure was thrust on the batters for a better part of the first two sessions.

It wasn’t until the first sign of spin that Musheer looked in his comfort zone. He welcomed his Mumbai teammate Tanush Kotian with a delicate paddle. Every now and then, Musheer sensed warning signs to rein himself in, like when a loose drive off Kuldeep Yadav’s first delivery flew wide of slip. And he quickly dusted himself off to refocus and bat time. And as he did, the fluency returned. Out came the full-blooded sweeps and the steps out to loft Kotian with the spin as he charged towards his century.

At one point in the final session, with Musheer and Navdeep Saini having batted for over 20 overs, Avesh decided to take the short-ball route with two men back on the leg side for the pull. The same fast bowlers who had dictated terms earlier in the day now resigned themselves to a ploy that Musheer made look futile at the end of a long day. There couldn’t have been a bigger validation for his efforts.

As Musheer whipped his helmet off and looked skywards, releasing his pent-up emotions and waving his bat to the dressing room after bringing up his third first-class century, Sarfaraz was among the first to jump out of his seat in applause. It was a poignant moment, too; for the better part of the last four seasons, Musheer has done all the applauding. It was now time for the big brother to return the favour, and he was more than happy to oblige.

Musheer is only 19 and has bigger challenges ahead of him. But so far, he’s proved, whether at Mumbai or to the national selectors who handed him a Duleep Trophy debut, that he’s entirely at home at the deep end.