India D captain Shreyas Iyer picked up a wicket in first-class cricket for the first time in almost six years during the Duleep Trophy match against India A on Friday. It was the final ball of Day 2 when Shreyas introduced himself into the attack and he was able to dismiss Mayank Agarwal on his very first delivery. It was a slightly flighted delivery that took Mayank by surprise and he ended up playing it straight back to the bowler. Shreyas took a good catch off his own bowling and his celebration said it all. The last time he took a first-class wicket was back in 2018 when he dismissed Saurashtra's Chetan Sakariya.
Half-centuries by skipper Mayank Agarwal and Pratam Singh helped India A reach 115 for one in their second innings and extend their hold over India D after second day's play.
India A, who made 290 in their first innings, earlier bowled out their opponents for 183 despite India batter Devdutt Padikkal's valiant 92 to gain a lead of 107 runs.
Now, India A have an advantage of 222 runs, with Agarwal (56, 87b, 8x4) and Pratham (59 batting, 82b, 6x4) leading their run glut in the second innings.
However, Agarwal, who is eager to chart his way back into selectorial reckoning, will be kicking himself for falling on the last ball of the day to part-time spinner Shreyas Iyer, spooning a simple return catch.
But till that point, Agarwal and Pratam played fluently and executed some fluent drives and cuts as the run-rate never came under four.
However, that's just one part of India A's story of domination on the day as earlier pacers Khaleel Ahmed and Aaqib Khan bagged three wickets apiece to rattle the India D line-up.
Only one of their batters defied the constant challenge of judgement – Devdutt who stroked his way to a 124-ball 92 with 15 hits to the ropes.
The Karnataka left-hander who made his Test debut earlier this year against England was particularly harsh on any offering on his pads or away from the off-stump.
A century was there for his taking, but the 24-year-old fell just eight runs shy as his attempt to play a shot on the up off state-mate Prasidh Krishna ended up in a simple catch to stumper Kumar Kushagra.
The 11-4-30-1 figures do not fall under the hallow-spell category, but for Prasidh it was important in his comeback journey.
This was the pacer's first outing in competitive cricket since Karnataka's Ranji Trophy game against Gujarat in January this year.
Since that match, the 28-year-old was recuperating from a quadricep injury.
(With PTI inputs)