Shahbaz Ahmed grabs headlines with another all-round display in the Duleep Trophy

It needs a lot of heart to bounce back from an injury and steer your team to safety under incredulous circumstances and an experiment headed south ever since the first ball was bowled, witnessed Shahbaz Ahmed pulling off a similar feat. The aforementioned hindrances felt like trivialities to RCB’s all-rounder Shahbaz Ahmed who put in a staunch shift for East Zone in the ongoing Duleep Trophy to pose a serious threat to North Zone’s semi-final berth.

BCCI chose to experiment with the Kookaburra ball in this prestigious domestic competition hoping to unlock a new horizon in Indian cricket. Kookaburra is generally used in Australia, on surfaces that have pace and bounce. The pitches in the Indian sub-continent are flat and barely have anything to offer to the pacers. Given the latest developments where the surface was left with dead grass, the cherry lost all its glam and the bowlers had to put in everything to secure something from the track that had nothing but despair.

Shahbaz started the contest with a resilient 62 in the first innings for East Zone that saw him playing his natural strokes with no ado whatsoever. However, trouble brewed in paradise when he sustained a hand injury on day three of the contest. He took his time, was being made aware of the circumstances, and chose to bowl on Day 4. Not only was he impressive with the bat in his hands but his fifer for East Zone, registering figures of 5/86, as he gave a timely reminder of his exploits in the longest format of the game too.

The all-rounder earned his maiden call-up to the national squad in the series against Zimbabwe. Even though he didn’t manage to get the debut, the lanky all-rounder would be hoping to continue his rich vein of form in the near future which can be a determining factor in him being a part of the Indian squad.