Tamil Nadu all-rounder Washington Sundar and Mumbai batsman Suryakumar Yadav have been added to the India Red squad for the finals of the Duleep Trophy 2017/18. Both were not the part of the original team, and the selectors were forced to import these two after the exit of few of the players for two unofficial Test matches against New Zealand A.
First talking of Sundar, he has impressed selectors in past few months as apart from shining in the IPL, he also shone in the practice game for Board President’s XI against the Australian squad, where he bowled a spell of 8-1-23-2. His impressive show was enough to add him to the team for the big final. Coming to Suryakumar Yadav, he had a decent Ranji season 2016/17 as he scored 715 runs at an average of 39.72.
India Blue – led by Suresh Raina – will face India Red – led by Dinesh Karthik – in the final of the second edition of pink ball Duleep Trophy at Ekana International Cricket Stadium in Lucknow.
India Blue side had qualified after they were able to draw and gain first innings lead from their first game whereas India Red won their first game and drew second against India Blue.
All eyes will be on Baba Indrajith, who scored a double century for India Red against India Blue in the previous game.
The final of the tournament will be a five-day affair, unlike the previous games and will also be televised.
Squads –
India Blue: Suresh Raina (captain), Samit Gohel, Abhimanyu Easwaran, KS Bharat, Manoj Tiwari, Deepak Hooda, Ishaan Kishan (wk), Akshay Wakhare, Bharghav Bhat, Ishant Sharma, Pankaj Rao, Jaydev Unadkat, Sagun Kamat and Pankaj Singh.
India Red: Dinesh Karthik (captain), Prithvi Shaw, Akhil Herwadkar, Ishank Jaggi, Rahul Singh, Baba Indrajith, Surya Kumar Yadav,Washington Sundar, Vijay Gohel, Basil Thampi, CV Milind, Ashok Dinda, Siddharth Kaul.