Duleep Trophy: Skipper Ajinkya Rahane sends teammate off for sledging rival batter
PTI
Coimbatore, September 25
In a rare act, West Zone skipper Ajinkya Rahane ordered his teammate Yashasvi Jaiswal to leave the field for disciplinary reasons on the fifth day of the Duleep Trophy final against South Zone here.
The 20-year-old Jaiswal had a great time with the bat, smashing a double century to set up a big win for West Zone in the summit showdown.
I believe in always respecting your opponents, umpires and match officials. So you have to handle certain incidents in a certain manner Ajinkya Rahane, West zone captain
I think zonal cricket is very important for those players who have been doing well for their states. Ranji Trophy, Irani Trophy and Duleep Trophy are very important for picking out Test cricketers for India in the future Ajinkya Rahane
However, the same cannot be said of his time on the field. He was asked by Rahane to leave the field for going overboard with sledging against South Zone batter Ravi Teja.
Teja had apparently complained about the verbal volleys that Jaiswal was consistently firing at him as he was fielding close to the batter.
After being spoken to earlier, Jaiswal came under fire again in the 57th over of South’s final innings when the on-field umpire complained about the youngster’s alleged verbal volleys. Jaiswal appeared to be animated when Rahane had a word with him with regard to his action and sent him off, leaving West Zone with 10 men on the field. Jaiswal returned to the field after being away for seven overs.
He was later declared the Player of the Match after West won by 294 runs.
“I believe in always respecting your opponents, umpires and match officials. So you have to handle certain incidents in a certain manner,” Rahane said after the match.
Last year, when India pacer Mohammed Siraj faced racial abuse in Australia, Rahane, who was leading the team in Virat Kohli’s absence, brought it up with the match referee, but refrained from engaging with the Australians on or off the field.
West win big
West Zone thrashed South Zone by 294 runs to win the Duleep Trophy here today, completing the formalities before lunch on the fifth day.
Set a target of 529 runs for an outright win, South Zone were bowled out for 234 in 71.2 overs, with left-arm spinner Shams Mulani (4/51) picking up three of the four wickets to fall on the final day.
Resuming at 154/6, South batters Teja and R Sai Kishore defied the West attack for nearly two hours. Most of the South Zone’s experienced batters failed and fell to the pace duo of Atit Sheth and Jaydev Unadkat on the fourth evening. Unadkat was named the Player of the Series for his 13 wickets.
West had amassed 585/4 before declaring in their second innings. Sarfaraz Khan scored an unbeaten 127 off 178 balls while Jaiswal made a monumental 265.
“I think zonal cricket is very important for those players who have been doing well for their states. Ranji Trophy, Irani Trophy and Duleep Trophy are very important for picking out Test cricketers for India in the future,” Rahane said.
Brief scores: West Zone: 270 & 585/4 decl; South Zone: 327 & 234 (Kunnummal 93; Teja 53; Mulani 4/51, Unadkat 2/28, Sheth 2/29).
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