Shreyas Iyer fails, Ruturaj Gaikwad sizzles on opening day of Duleep Trophy semi-final

West Zone and Central Zone locked horns in the semi-final of the Duleep Trophy today. Shreyas Iyer, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad turned up for West Zone, making it a star-studded clash but only one of them had a field day with the bat. Gaikwad slammed a sensational century and converted it into a big one. He scored 184 runs off 206 deliveries with 25 fours and a six to propel the team’s score past the 300-run mark.

However, Jaiswal and Iyer couldn’t make a mark at all. Jaiswal opened the innings for the West Zone and could only muster four runs before getting out. Khaleel Ahmed trapped the left-hander plumb in front of the stumps. As for Iyer, he batted at number five and was castled by Khaleel for just 25 runs. The batter looked good during his 28-ball stay, but was undone by the brilliance from the bowler.

Blow to Iyer’s chances of a Test comeback?

While Jaiswal is a certainty when it comes to his place in India’s Test playing XI, Shreyas Iyer is desperate to return to the whites. But a low score in his maiden appearance of a new domestic season doesn’t help his cause at all. Having said that, he will get another opportunity to impress and a couple more innings in the Duleep Trophy if the West Zone make it to the final.

Ruturaj and Kotian help West Zone make a comeback

Despite boasting of a star-studded batting line-up, the West Zone were in trouble at 179/5 at one stage. However, the duo of Ruturaj Gaikwad and Tanush Kotian helped them recover with a 148-run partnership for the sixth wicket. The former was waging a lone battle until Kotian joined hands with him, and the latter remained unbeaten on 65 off 121 balls with five fours to his name. West Zone ended the opening day at 363/6 after 87 overs, even as skipper Shardul Thakur also remained not out on 24 runs.

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