Excelsior Sports Correspondent
JAMMU, Aug 21: Talented wicketkeeper batsman Fazil Rashid began his captaincy debut in style by scoring a masterful fifty against formidable Delhi in the prestigious Buchi Babu Cricket Tournament, being organised by Tamil Nadu Cricket Association at Salem Cricket Foundation Ground, Tamil Nadu.
Earlier, put into bat by Delhi skipper Himmat Singh, J&K lost two early wickets in the form of openers Abhinav Puri (0) and Shubham Khajuria (05), before the duo of Abdul Samad (28) and Vivrant Sharma (11) took the score closer to the 50-run mark. Samad hit five crispy boundaries in his 24-ball knock. However, both of them fell in quick succession.
Then J&K’s former skipper Shubham Pundir (46 runs off 111 balls) and promising Musaif Ajaz (32 off 50) consolidated the innings before skipper Fazil Rashid showed stellar grit and tenacity to notch up a brilliant half-century, scoring 50 runs off 66 balls, studded with 7 delectable boundaries. Auqib Nabi (29 off 33), Abid Mushtaq (27 off 40) and Umar Nazir (18 off 16) were the other contributors in J&K’s first innings total of 256 runs in 64.1 overs.
For Delhi, Hrithik Shokeen was the wrecker-in-chief, who took 5 important wickets, while Sidharth bagged 2 wickets. In reply, Delhi were 68/2 in 17 overs in their first innings at stumps on day-1 of this 4-day match. Vaibhav Sharma and Vaibhav Khandwal were cheaply back to the pavilion, while Anuj Rawat and Atush were at the crease.
For J&K, speedster Auqib Nabi and left-arm spinner Abid Mushtaq took one wicket each. “Buchi Babu Tourney is a great opportunity for the players to showcase their skill at the higher level and get ready for the forthcoming Ranji Trophy Tournament,” stated JKCA Sub Committee Members.
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