Duleep Trophy 2025: Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana strikes, Indian pacers on song ahead of Asia Cup 2025

Indian bowlers are in song. Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana strike early in the morning. East Zone is in their first innings of the ongoing Duleep Trophy 2025 match against North Zone and is already down by two wickets. 

The surface at the BCCI COE Ground 1, Bengaluru, has some green on it, which provides some extra edge for the pacers with the new ball. Utilizing the conditions well, the pacers of the North Zone delivered quickly. Singh, in the fifth over of the innings, helped his team to get rid of Sharandeep Singh. During the tenth over, Rana got the second wicket in the form of Sridam Paul. 

Sharandeep, one of the openers of East Zone, departed for only 6 runs, and Paul, the number three batter, went for only 7. East Zone lost their two top-order batters in 32 runs. The early strikes from Arshdeep and Harshit are crucial for Indian cricket, as both the pacers are in the Asia Cup 2025 squad, which is scheduled to start on September 9. 

Read More: List of top-end cars owned by Sanju Samson ft. Range Rover Sport

North Zone leading the race

Batting first, North Zone registered 405 runs in their first innings. Kanhaiya Wadhawan, with a 76-run innings, emerged as the top scorer for the team. Ayush Badoni got 63 runs; he was the second-highest run getter in the first innings for North Zone. 

Rather than the batting performances, it was Manishi who was unveiled as a surprise element in the match. The lesser-known spinner from Jharkhand claimed 6 wickets in his 22.2-over spell. The pace bowling department with Mohammed Shami and Mukesh Kumar was disappointing, as Kumar went wicketless and Shami struck on only one occasion. On the other side, for the North Zone, their fast bowlers provided early wickets to keep the team in the driving seat. As of now, Easy Zone is at 32 after losing a couple of wickets.