Not Pant...meet India B's unexpected hero

I was trying to play close to my body to counter swing and cut: Centurion Musheer Khan

After underscoring his talent with a robust hundred, Musheer Khan on Thursday said he centred his batting strategy around playing close to the body to nullify the pronounced movement of the ball in overcast conditions.

Musheer's unbeaten 105 rescued India B after India A bowlers reduced them to 94 for seven on the first day of the Duleep Trophy match at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. India B finished the day at 202 for seven.

“I wanted to play as many balls as possible without thinking too much about runs. I wanted to bat the whole day, and I was taking it session by session. The ball was swinging and cutting when I came to bat,” Musheer said in the post-day press meet.

“So, I was trying to play the ball as close to my body as possible, and was looking to avoid those risky shots. I knew runs would eventually come,” he added.

But Musheer was not alone in his rescue mission as late-order batter Navdeep Saini helped him add 108 runs for the unbroken eighth wicket alliance.

“When wickets were falling at the other end, I told myself to play intelligently and look for a partnership. Then Saini bhai gave me a lot of confidence saying he will play whether it is two balls or six balls in an over, and just keep faith in him."

“He was also able to match my thinking and approach while batting. But generally, I was trying to defend the first three or four balls and then take a single,” he elaborated.

Another salient feature of his batting was the way he handled Kuldeep Yadav as five of his 10 fours came off the left-arm wrist spinner, including two successive biffs down the V.

Musheer said conversations with senior batters in his side like Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant helped him prepare against Kuldeep.

“This is the second time I am playing Kuldeep bhai. We have some experienced players in our side like Shubman bhai and Rishabh bhai who told me which of Kuldeep bhai's balls will be effective and off which ones I can score runs. But once I got set, batting became easy on this wicket,” said Musheer.

The 19-year-old Mumbaikar also termed the opportunity to play in Duleep Trophy as a fine learning experience.

“This is a good learning experience for me as there are a lot of senior players in my team and in opposition."

“I am observing the way they think, their confidence and how they prepare for a practice session and a match,” he added.