Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], August 30 : Yash Dhull, India's Under-19 World Cup-winning captain, rediscovered his lost mojo by hammering a composed hundred for North Zone against East Zone in the ongoing quarter-finals of the Duleep Trophy at the BCCI Centre of Excellence on Saturday.
Dhull showed signs of promise in the first innings, but he failed to convert into something of significance after departing on 39 off 67 balls. With the combined efforts of the middle-order batters, North Zone posted a daunting 405 on the board in their first turn with the bat.
With a significant 175-run lead, Dhull stepped on the crease after opening batter Shubham Khajuria fell for 21(53), after being pinned in front of the stumps by Manishi. With his robust technique, Dhull made the bowlers pay and notched a 112-ball century, laced with 11 fours and two towering sixes.
Dhull remained a consistently tormented East Zone bowling unit, with skipper Ankit Kumar serving as the stand-in captain for Shubman Gill. The duo raised a rollicking 200-run stand and stayed unbeaten at the stroke of Tea. Dhull returned unbeaten on 132 and could add just one more run before getting trapped in front of the stumps by Riyan Parag.
After Dhull returned on 133(157), Ankit continued with his exploits to extend North Zone's threatening lead. Ankit remained unbeaten on 168(264) at the end of Day 3 as North Zone put 388/2 with a herculean 563-run lead.
The 22-year-old, Dhull, led India to Under-19 World Cup glory in 2022. He played his most notable innings of the tournament in the semi-final against Australia, hammering a run-a-ball 110 to set up a thumping 96-run victory for India. He got off to an impressive start in his Ranji Trophy debut, chalking up two centuries for Delhi against Tamil Nadu.
He followed up his impressive outing with a career-best 200 against Chhattisgarh and finished his maiden first-class season averaging 119.75. In the last two years, his form tapered, averaging 30.42 across 20 matches. He eventually found his purple patch in the 2024-25 season, mustering up 444 runs at an average of 49.33.
In the second quarter-final clash, Central Zone stayed in pole position against North East Zone, courtesy of Shubham Sharma's blistering 122(215) in the second innings. Captain Rajat Patidar and Yash Rathod made vital contributions with scores of 66 and 78, lifting Central Zone to 331/6 and a commanding 678-run lead.
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