That brings an end to our coverage of the 2016-17 Duleep Trophy. All in all, what a start to the pink-ball trial in India. Rains in Greater Noida did occasionally dampen the spirits, but fans still turned up in large numbers to throng the stands. Regardless of where this experiment takes us and we get to see a pink-ball Test in India in the future or not, this Duleep Trophy will go down as a historic occasion on account of a first-class game in India being played under lights for the first time. We hope you enjoyed our coverage of the tournament. Long home season ahead for the Indian team, so plenty to look forward to. See you then, and thank you for joining us!
Gautam Gambhir - Absolutely, very professional. Toss is not in your hands, but I won the toss, fortunately. Putting 700 runs on the board was crucial. I think I have always felt that's the way the game is meant to be played. I have seen captains say in the past that the Duleep Trophy is about individuals. The first day when I came in, I thought the most important thing was to get the unit together and inculcate the culture of winning in the dressing room. There is no better feeling than to lead the team to a win. The most important culture is winning. It's always about winning and not about individual performances. There is no better feeling than winning and getting into a dressing room, because a winning dressing room is a happy dressing room. I thought when you win the toss and someone gets a 250, it's fantastic, hopefully, he (Pujara) can carry this form into international cricket. It's all about contributing, opening the batting is very important to me. I have always maintained that in a four-day or a five-day game, making a good start is important. Looking forward to win it, it's been a while since Delhi has won the Ranji Trophy.
Pujara - Obviously, I've been playing a lot of cricket since childhood and I have always enjoyed scoring big runs, right from the junior days, and now it has become a habit. I like to compete and there is always a price on my wicket. I always feel when I'm set, I have to score big runs and help the team. I enjoyed playing the pink ball, but there are challenges, especially under lights when it is hard to pick the googly. It was a good preparation for the New Zealand series and I'm looking forward to it.
Cheteshwar Pujara is the Man of the Match.
Yuvraj Singh - Definitely, since we lost the toss and we didn't bowl well. We missed stumpings, dropped catches. I hope to get better. The batsmen - Gambhir and Pujara - piled on the runs. Staying for long periods on the field can tiring. Looking forward to the domestic season. , and hopefully, ht emore I play, the better I will get. The toss wasimportant, but they bowled better, Jadeja bowled well, Pankaj bowled well with the new ball. It's a bit tough to comment (on the pink ball) because when we were bowling, the ball wasn't swinging much, whereas when they bowled, it was swinging. It's still a mystery.
5.45pm Excellent win for India Blue. Two commanding performances, back-to-back, and they've clearly proved themselves the best team in this Duleep Trophy. Makes you wonder if the selectors got their talent distribution right while picking the teams. This win was set up by another massive first-innings total, with Cheteshwar Pujara's unbeaten 256 the highlight. But bowlers win matches, and in Ravindra Jadeja and his pace and accuracy, India Blue had the ideal spinner for a slow turner.