India A relish home conditions, convincingly take opening clash

India A have comprehensively defeated Australia A in the first four-day clash in Puducherry, taking the victory by 162 runs.

The home bowlers made the most of a deteriorating fourth-day pitch, with uneven bounce accounting for several of the Aussie batters.

Tushar Deshpande (3-14) was almost unplayable in his eight overs and he benefitted with a couple of wickets that kept very low, which included dismissing Josh Philippe and Liam Scott in consecutive balls.

Beginning the day on 2-55 and needing a further 308 to win, senior batters Nathan McSweeney and Peter Handscomb started cautiously.

However, their wickets, which were only 13 balls apart, spoke to the challenging and unpredictable nature of the pitch.

McSweeney (35) was caught at slip after an Anshul Kamboj delivery reared up off a length and ballooned off the South Australia skipper's gloves.

Then Handscomb couldn't help but laugh as he was bowled in Kamboj's next over by a ball that barely got above ankle height after bouncing.

"Conditions were tough," Aussie skipper Handscomb said after the defeat. "The wicket obviously deteriorated throughout the game and became harder and harder to bat on with cracks going up and down the wicket, but also across the wicket, which meant that some balls were shooting and some balls were taking off.

"But also credit goes to the Indian team the way they were relentless with their their line and length, both with their quicks and their spin.

"As the conditions get harder, it puts a lot of emphasis on your on your first innings. We didn't see the the wicket deteriorating as quickly as it did from day one to day two, and that was a bit of a difference."

The only other resistance of note came from the pairing of Victorian bowlers Fergus O'Neill (47) and Todd Murphy (17). The duo put on a partnership worth 67 runs for the eighth wicket, Australia's highest stand of the match. 

However, when O'Neill was out caught in the deep of Shams Mulani shortly after lunch, the crafty spinner wrapped up the final two wickets in quick time. 

Handscomb said he was impressed by the attitude shown by Jason Sangha, who got a start in both innings, and Murphy, who showed great control with the ball.

"I actually think we played pretty well and I don't think there's a lot of things that we need to change dramatically," Handscomb said.

"We got a few balls today that were almost unplayable. I'm not trying to to make excuses, but maybe (we need) more of a of a mental shift ... Being positive if the wicket is going to be is going to be tough, then finding ways to put pressure back onto the opposition." 

The second four-dayer beings on Tuesday at the same venue.

Photo credits: Cricket Association of Pondicherry media

Australia A men's tour of India 2026

1st four-day: India A won by 162 runs

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