Duleep Trophy: Baba Indrajith’s 72 helps India C get a slender lead against India D

On September 6 (Friday), Tamil Nadu’s Baba Indrajith continued his merry run in the first-class format with a vital half-century against India D. Chasing 165 for a first-innings lead, India C found themselves in all sorts of trouble, at 40/3 when Indrajith walked out to bat. 

As he has done time and again for Tamil Nadu, the right-hander rescued his team from a dire situation, first batting time before showing his eccentric game through the off side and leg side. All this while his teammates were walking back to the pavilion, one after the other, succumbing to some quality pace bowling. 

Indrajith employed a more traditional approach up front, first ducking and swaying away from the tough deliveries before taking on both pacers and spinners in equal measures. Across his last five first-class innings, Indrajith’s scores have read 98, 48, 187, 70, 11. 

But the half-century against India D might perhaps be one of the most significant scores, given that the Indian selectors were watching the game from close quarters. He showed great prowess against the Indian regular Axar Patel, against whom he smacked four boundaries in four consecutive overs.

If the offside was not accessible, then Indrajith made room for himself to hit it through the leg side with a great amount of risk. His ability to build a solid partnership with Anshul Kamboj was perhaps the deal-breaker, with that 51-run partnership helping the India C side get past India D’s score of 164. 

Read: ‘Score big runs, trust the timing’: Baba Indrajith’s mantra to earn Test cap

He’s had one hell of a year, with 744 runs in just 13 innings and an average of a staggering 74.4, showing that he’s definitely in for a long run. 

“It is not easy to be always motivated. In India, there are many people, even if you don’t score for two games, you will feel like a failure because others are scoring,” Indrajith said in an earlier interview with Cricket.com.

“The hunger is always there; you always want to play at a higher level for India ‘A’ and India. That’s the ultimate goal, and in terms of consistency, when you have the hunger to perform well,” Indrajith added. 

If he continues his merry run, that selection might just be around the corner.

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