Viru makes comeback move at Challenger

Virender Sehwag struck a fluent half-century in the first outing of his comeback bid into the national side but that was not good enough to prevent a formidable Delhi side from losing by 18 runs to India Blue in the opening game of the NKP Salve Challenger Series here on Thursday. Playing without skipper Yuvraj Singh, who skipped the tie due to a stiff back, India Blue scored 270/6 courtesy a 73-ball-91 by Mumbai all-rounder Abhishek Nayar. In reply, Sehwag, who came in at number four, batted in his customary style, smashing his way to 58 off only 39 balls with the help of nine boundaries and a six but Delhi could manage only 252 in 47.5 overs. Veteran Rajat Bhatia’s all-round effort (3/46 in 10 overs and 65 runs) and Ashish Nehra’s career best List A score of 37 not out went in vain. With Yuvraj skipping the game, the interest for the 10,000 odd spectators was some fireworks from Sehwag and Kohli. But, Kohli (5) disappointed as he played away from his body to a Bhuvneshwar Kumar (3/58) delivery which was snapped by Naman Ojha behind stumps. Coming at two down, Sehwag began with a punchy cover drive off Kumar’s bowling.The moment width was provided to Sehwag, the ball raced through the cover region while anything on the pads was treated with equal disdain.