Kumar Kushagra retired hurt on 82 and came back for 113, and Australia A were bowled out for 171
India A lead by 163 after two days in Puducherry, where Shams Mulani took four wickets and Australia A’s top four were gone with 40 on the board.
Sep 23, 2026
Kumar Kushagra hobbled off about 40 minutes before stumps on the first day with 82 to his name. He was back out on Wednesday morning when India A lost their sixth wicket, and by the time Corey Rocchiccioli bowled him he had 113 from 240 balls. India A made 334, then bowled Australia A out for 171 before the close of the second day at the Cricket Association Puducherry Siechem Ground.
Kushagra finishes what he started
India A had been 97 for 5 on Tuesday. Sai Sudharsan, back from a toe stress fracture, made 57 at the top before Rocchiccioli caught and bowled him, and Rocchiccioli took three of those first five wickets.
Kushagra and Tanush Kotian then added 138 before Kushagra went off. Kotian began the second day on 68 and was out to the first ball of it, caught by Peter Handscomb off Brendan Doggett for 69. That brought Kushagra back.
He got to his hundred from 202 balls, without a six, and was ninth out at 326. Anshul Kamboj’s 23 from 32 balls helped India A past 300 before Todd Murphy ended the innings on the stroke of lunch. Rocchiccioli finished with 4 for 95 and Murphy 3 for 77.
Australia A’s top four gone for 40
The reply went wrong almost straight away. Kamboj had Campbell Kellaway lbw in the ninth over, Praful Hinge bowled Nathan McSweeney for a 17-ball duck, and Shams Mulani bowled Handscomb, the captain, for 8. Sam Konstas batted 76 balls for 25 before Tushar Deshpande trapped him lbw, and Australia A were 40 for 4.
Jason Sangha made the only real score, 46 from 64 balls, and put on 41 for the sixth wicket with Liam Scott. Mulani then took both of them inside 14 balls. He finished with 4 for 67 from 18 overs, and Kotian ended it by bowling Doggett. Kamboj’s 10 overs cost 14.
Padikkal has a choice to make
A lead of 163 is more than the 150 needed to enforce the follow-on in a four-day match, so Devdutt Padikkal can send Australia A straight back in on Thursday. He has two full days to work with.
Padikkal himself made only 3 on the first morning, one of three India A batters out for single figures in the top five. Kushagra kept wicket too, and took the catch that removed Scott. His hundred follows the 101 he made for East Zone in the Duleep Trophy final.