Duleep Trophy | Jagadeesan puts South Zone in control

Jagadeesan picked his moments to attack and defend to keep North at bay in the final session. Closing in on 150, Jagadeesan will be hoping to convert it into a double and bat North out of the game.

Bengaluru: N Jagadeesan made the most of the friendly batting conditions on offer and an early life, striking a composed century as South Zone called the shots on the opening day of their Duleep Trophy semifinal against North Zone here on Thursday.

The 29-year-old Tamil Nadu wicketkeeper, who was called-up to the Indian Test team during the recently-held England tour after Rishabh Pant fractured a right foot toe during the fourth Test in Manchester, showed why the selectors feel he’s a decent back-up option for the frontline set of keepers with a measured 148 not out to take South Zone to 297/3 in 81 overs at stumps at BCCI’s Centre of Excellence on the outskirts of the City.

North Zone skipper Ankit Kumar, winning the toss following a 30-minute delay due to wet conditions, erred in opting to bowl first. Ankit may have felt Wednesday’s deluge and the overcast conditions could assist his pacers, especially Anshul Kamboj who made his Test debut in Manchester. However, Ankit’s plan came unstuck as the pitch bore no demons as Jagadeesan led South’s charge with aplomb.

Whatever little purchase North Zone bowlers could extract was in the opening hour, and Kamboj and new-ball partner Auquib Nabi bowled with control in the first spell. Kamboj even had Jagadeesan caught behind by wicketkeeper Kanhaiya Wadhawan for nine in the 11th over, but to North’s dismay, the pacer had overstepped. Jagadeesan was delighted at the reprieve, and the right-hander just kicked on from there, dishing out an error-free innings.

In the first session, he and opening partner Tanmay Agarwal embraced caution. Runs came in trickles, but the duo were determined to lay the foundation and build on from there. After taking lunch at 79/0, both Jagadeesan and Agarwal started to play their shots in the second session. They attacked medium pacer Yudhvir Singh especially as the South Zone’s innings got the much-needed tempo.

Agarwal departed just when he was looking good for a half-century, but one-drop Devdutt Padikkal (57) ensured the South Zone didn’t suffer a dip in momentum. With Padikkal playing his shots right from the onset, the confidence rubbed onto Jagadeesan, and the duo put North to the sword with ease. But against the run of play, Padikkal departed on the stroke of tea, as North heaved a sigh of relief.

However, Jagadeesan didn’t make the same mistakes as Tanmay and Padikkal did. He picked his moments to attack and defend to keep North at bay in the final session. Closing in on 150, Jagadeesan will be hoping to convert it into a double and bat North out of the game. 

Gaikwad shines 

Ruturaj Gaikwad slammed a brilliant 184 and Tanush Kotian pulled off another one of his heroic late rescue acts in scoring an unbeaten 64 as West Zone raced to 363/7 in 87 overs in their semifinal against Central Zone.

West Zone’s Ruturaj Gaikwad celebrates his century on day one of the Duleep Trophy 2025 second semifinal cricket match between Central Zone and West Zone

West Zone were in a spot of bother at 10/2 but Gaikwad, returning recently to cricket after recovering from an elbow fracture he suffered during the IPL, rescued them with a courageous knock. 

Brief scores:

South Zone: 297/3 in 81 overs (Tanmay Agarwal 43, N Jagadeesan 148 n.o., Devdutt Padikkal 57; Nishant Sindhu 2-59) vs North Zone.

West Zone: 363/6 in 87 overs (Aarya Desai 39, Ruturaj Gaikwad 184, Shreyas Iyer 25, Tanush Kotian 64 n.o.; Khaleel Ahmed 2-70, Saransh Jain 2-109) vs Central Zone.