Duleep Trophy: Four good men, four great opportunities missed

Abhimanyu Easwaran, Sarfaraz Khan, Cheteshwar Pujara and Suryakumar Yadav have all had the spotlight on them for different reasons lately.

There was surprise - even shock, in some quarters - that Sarfaraz and Abhimanyu were ignored for India's Test squad despite compelling performances in domestic cricket; Pujara and Suryakumar were in the news for being dropped from the Caribbean tour party.

Abhimanyu, a prolific run-getter for India A, has been leapfrogged by Yashasvi Jaiswal, who in addition to the weight of domestic runs has IPL numbers to strengthen his case. Sarfaraz, well, he has a first-class average of 79.65, second only to Don Bradman among batters who have played at least 50 innings, but hasn't found takers at the highest level yet. And, for now, it seems as if the selectors want to look beyond Pujara for the Test No. 3 slot, one he made his own for a better part of the last 13 years over which he played 103 Tests.

For Suryakumar, it's a little less straightforward. He was handed a Test debut against Australia in Nagpur, seemingly to counter their spin threat and take the game forward on a rank turner, but he was jettisoned thereafter. Now, with Ajinkya Rahane back for the time being and named vice-captain and Shreyas Iyer waiting to return following rehabilitation after a back injury, the route back looks tougher.

Which is why solid performances in the ongoing Duleep Trophy could have stirred the pot a bit, kept them in the mix and given the selectors - where Ajit Agarkar is now the man in charge - healthy headaches.

But…

Abhimanyu only managed 0 and 11 in his two innings as East Zone, the team he captained, crashed out with a loss to Central Zone. In his first innings, he didn't last long enough for the selectors to gauge his form, after being done in by a superb in-ducker from Avesh Khan that got him first ball. Abhimanyu was done in by a fraction of a second's indecision, by which time the ball snuck past the inside edge to trap him plumb in front.

In the second innings, he was out to square turn from Saurabh Kumar on a slightly up-and-down third-day surface. Could he have played forward? Perhaps. In playing back, he was a dead duck because there was no second line of defence against a supremely accurate left-arm spinner who has mastered the art of bowling with the new ball.

Sarfaraz's case is somewhat similar. He has tons of runs over the past three seasons and has a game that he believes is an all-weather one. When you have scored runs across India, there's perhaps merit in thinking that way. But his lack of runs for India A and the perception that he has a short-ball weakness - and poor fitness - aren't without merit.

He arrived in Bengaluru a week prior to the Duleep Trophy and trained at the NCA because the rains in Mumbai didn't allow him much batting time. But in his first outing at the Duleep Trophy, against Central Zone, it was the short ball that felled him. Shivam Mavi got the ball to rear up as Sarfaraz chopped on, unable to get on top of the bounce. He was out for a 12-ball duck and will dearly hope a second innings awaits to make amends.

Pujara could have opted to rest, and no one would have faulted him for it. He isn't part of India's Test squad, and it appears as if it could remain that way for the foreseeable future. But what's life without a challenge for Pujara?

When he was dropped from the Test team for the home series against Sri Lanka early last year, he piled on the runs for Sussex, 720 of them in eight innings, including four centuries. It paved the way for his return for the postponed fifth Test against England in July 2022. It's a spot he held on to for another year during which he got to a milestone, his 100th Test.

Here, at the Duleep Trophy, he held fort for over two hours, faced over 100 deliveries, seemingly blunted the Central bowling, played close to his body, left well and steadied a wobbling innings. Pujara, the rock, was bedding in for a significant knock as the clouds closed in.

Mavi was zipping it both ways, Yash Thakur was getting it to bounce, and Avesh was working up serious heat with his hit-the-deck style. Pujara was unperturbed by wickets falling around him, went for it only if he was dead certain the ball was in his half. He was in a zone for much of his time at the crease and then, having dug in, he threw it away slashing to the slips on 28.

Now to Suryakumar, who had a massive slice of luck against Central when he nicked to the slips only for Vivek Singh to put down a regulation catch. Next ball, he was out fishing outside fifth stump as Mavi had him edging to Dhruv Jurel, who replaced Vivek in the slips. And, just like that, he was out for 7.

Looking at the immediate future, Pujara, Suryakumar and Sarfaraz may yet have second opportunities at the Duleep Trophy. In Pujara's case, there's more, given that he's set to return to the UK to complete his county commitments with Sussex. For Abhimanyu, though, the wait to press his red-ball credentials could stretch to the Irani Trophy beginning only in October later this year.