Mukesh Kumar took 6 wickets. (Photo: PTI)
Ahead of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, the India A team is on a tour of Australia, where they have to play two first-class matches. His first match is being played against Australia A in Mackay. There are 3 players in this match, who are part of Team India’s squad for the 5-match Test series. But none of them could leave their mark by the end of the second day’s play. On the other hand, some players in Australia created havoc with the ball and bat, which the Indian team did not give a chance to.
Mukesh bounced back with lethal bowling.
India did not get off to a good start in Australia. Batting first, the entire team was bundled out for just 107 runs. After being bowled out for such a low score, India looked in trouble. But fast bowler Mukesh Kumar bounced back with lethal bowling. He gave Australia A an early shock on the first day, sending opener Sam Constance to the pavilion in the very first over. Mukesh’s charm continued on the second day as well.
Australia A team started batting with a score of 99 for the loss of 4 wickets. He started the day by dismissing Bev Webster to break a 51-run partnership. Then gave 2 more shocks one after the other. Mukesh also took 2 wickets in the end. Thus, this right-handed fast bowler took a total of 6 wickets by giving away 46 runs in 18.4 overs. Due to his lethal bowling, the Australia A team, which was looking strong at one point, was bowled out for 195 and could manage a lead of just 88 runs. Let us tell you that he has not got a place in Australia’s Test series.
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Sudarshan and Padikal’s innings put India in a strong position.
Apart from Mukesh, Sai Sudarshan and Devdutt Padikal also had a blast in Australia. Team India has not given them both a chance. After trailing by 88 runs, the Indian team did not start well in the second innings either. India A lost 2 wickets for just 30 runs. After that, the two put on a great partnership of 180 runs.
Meanwhile, Padikal scored 80 runs in 167 balls while Sudarshan scored 96 runs in 185 balls and is close to scoring a century. Both the batsmen are currently at the crease and will open the batting on the third day tomorrow. While India A has scored 208 runs for the loss of 2 wickets and has a lead of 120 runs. In the first innings as well, both of them scored the most runs among the batsmen. Sudarshan scored 21 runs while Padikal played an innings of 36 runs.
The selected player flops
Abhimanyu Iswaran, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Prasad Krishna are part of the squad for the Australia series. Iswaran has been flopping in both the innings. He scored 7 runs in the first innings and 12 runs in the second. Apart from him, all-rounder Nitish got out without opening an account in the first innings, while taking 1 wicket in the bowling. On the other hand, Prasad Krishna took 3 wickets with some good bowling.
