The ambulance had to make way to the ground after Venkatesh Iyer, playing for the Central Zone, ended up copping a brutal blow on his head from the fast bowler Chintan Gaja, during the Duleep Trophy game.

Venkatesh came to the bat when Central Zone was limping on 48/4. He got off to a breezy start and welcomed Gaja with a six on the first ball. On the next ball, he played a defensive shot straight back to Gaja, who grabbed the ball and threw it back to the batter. Iyer was unable to get out of the way and dropped down to the ground after getting hit on the head.

It was a worrisome scene on the ground, and the players from the opposition camp too huddled around Iyer, who was in a supine state. Iyer, however, got stable and decided to walk off to the ground himself. He returned back to the field after some time but was unable to add much. He slammed 14 off 9 deliveries before falling prey to Tanush Kotian.

As far as the match is concerned, Central Zone was bundled out for a paltry total of 128 Barring the skipper Karan Sharma, the rest of the batters succumbed without posing any sort of defiance. For the west Zone, Jaydev Unadkat and Kotian claimed three wickets apiece.

Venky decided not to return to the field when West Zone came to bat. While Yashasvi Jaiswal got out cheaply, his opening partner Prithvi Shaw backed up his half-century from the first innings by scoring an unbeaten 104 off 96 balls. Ajinkya Rahane, who is aiming to regain his spot on India’s Test side, failed to put up anything substantial with the bat.

It’s only Day 2 of the game, and the West Zone has already accrued a healthy lead of 259 runs. With Shaw still on the crease, they will aim to set up a target of close to the vicinity of 400.

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