West Australian off-spinner took three wickets to have the home side in early trouble
Match Report:
ScorecardRocchiccioli stakes strong claim before India A fight back
India A have recovered from a shaky start to end day one of the first of two four-day matches against Australia A with a sizeable first innings total for the taking.
Western Australian Corey Rocchiccioli (3-72) did his hopes of a call-up for next year's Test tour of India no harm, doing the early damage after the hosts' skipper Devdutt Padikkal opted to bat in Puducherry.
The off-spinner picked up three wickets in quick succession either side of lunch to have India A at a precarious 5-97 in the 35th over.
Wicketkeeper Kumar Kushagra (82 retired hurt) and Mumbai allrounder Tanush Kotian (68 not out) dug in to steady the innings prior to tea before the home side fought their way back into the contest in the final session.
Kushagra hit 10 fours before the pair's 138-run union was halted midway through the evening session when he walked from the ground at the end of the 79th over after pulling Rocchiccioli to deep midwicket.
Fellow Mumbai spin-bowling allrounder Shams Mulani (10no) maintained India A's momentum as they went to stumps at Siechem Stadium without further loss on 5-257.
Two of Rocchiccioli's three wickets were caught and bowled, the first a one-handed beauty diving to his right as No.4 Shaik Rasheed (16) tried to force him powerfully down the ground.
The 28-year-old then had Yash Rathod (1) expertly caught at bat pad by Peter Handscomb before running back with the flight to catch Sai Sudharsan's (57) leading edge off his own bowling.
"I probably sat behind 'Murph' (Todd Murphy) a little bit, he bowled brilliantly and I was able to attack from one end," Rocchiccioli said at the close of play.
"I felt like my typical bounce and spin played a factor here … I just stuck to my guns, and we bowled really well as a bowling cartel."
Should Australia opt to play three spinners at any point during next year's five-Test Border-Gavaskar Trophy tour, Rocchiccioli could be vying with his Australia A teammate Todd Murphy for a starting spot alongside Nathan Lyon and Matthew Kuhnemann.
As Murphy ended with 1-59 from 26 overs against India A on Tuesday, the uncapped Rocchiccioli looked at home in Indian conditions, but said he wasn't looking too far ahead.
"Right now, I'm pretty keen to win a game for Aussie A … playing cricket and performing well for the teams that I'm in," he said.
"We've got some high-quality spinners in Australia at the moment, and we also have a very strong Australian Test team. So my focus is solely what's in front of me, and right now that's coming back out tomorrow and finishing this innings."
Fergus O'Neill gave the Handscomb-led visitors a great start when he trapped opener Aman Mokhade in front for six in his third over, a decision which was confirmed on review.
Murphy then had in-form left-hander Padikkal (3), who entered the match on the back of two Test centuries against Sri Lanka last month, caught at slip by Jason Sangha.
Rocchiccioli then went to work with Sudharsan, another Test-capped Indian batter, his first victim.
Australia A men's tour of India 2026
1st four-day: Sep 22-25, Puducherry, 2pm AEST
2nd four-day: Sep 29-Oct 2, Puducherry, 2pm AEST
Australia A four-day squad: Brendan Doggett, Jack Edwards, Peter Handscomb, Sam Harper, Liam Hatcher, Campbell Kellaway, Sam Konstas, Nathan McSweeney, Todd Murphy, Fergus O'Neill, Josh Philippe, Jhye Richardson, Corey Rocchiccioli, Jason Sangha, Liam Scott
India A four-day squad: Aman Mokhade, Ayush Pandey, Devdutt Padikkal (c), Sai Sudharsan (vc), Yash Rathod, Shaik Rasheed, Kumar Kushagra (wk), Shams Mulani, Tanush Kotian, Tushar Deshpande, Anshul Kamboj, Praful Hinge, Narayan Jagadeesan (wk), Nachiket Bhute, Vijaykumar Vyshak
1st one-day: Oct 6, Puducherry, 3pm AEDT
2nd one-day: Oct 9, Puducherry, 3pm AEDT
3rd one-day: Oct 11, Puducherry, 3pm AEDT
Australia A one-day squad: Mahli Beardman, Nikhil Chaudhary, Ben Dwarshuis, Jack Edwards, Aaron Hardie, Spencer Johnson, Sam Konstas, Nathan McSweeney, Todd Murphy, Mitch Owen, Josh Philippe, Tanveer Sangha, Liam Scott, Lachlan Shaw
India A one-day squad: Priyansh Arya, Sai Sudharsan, Devdutt Padikkal (vc), Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Rajat Patidar, Kumar Kushagra (wk), Nishant Sindhu, Vipraj Nigam, Arshin Kulkarni, Arshad Khan, Naman Dhir, Hardik Pandya, Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Gurjapneet Singh, Yash Thakur