Jamshedpur’s Kumar Kushagra gets maiden India A call up

Jamshedpur: Having recently bagged a Rs 7.20 crore IPL deal with Delhi Capitals, Jamshedpur’s (Jharkhand) 19-year-old Kumar Kushagra got his maiden call-up in the India A squad for the second and third unofficial ‘Test’ against England Lions.

Kushagra and Upendra Yadav will be the two wicketkeepers as both Kona Bharat and Dhruv Chand Jurel have been selected in the senior team for the first two Tests against England.

On a day when he scored a half-century for Jharkhand in a Ranji Trophy game in the national capital, Kushagra’s career got the much-needed boost.

It is understood that Kona Bharat isn’t exactly anyone’s choice save head coach Rahul Dravid and with Ishan Kishan unlikely to be considered in any national team in near future (especially in red ball), the national selection committee is looking at some young guns, who could be brought through the system with adequate amount of exposure at the ‘A’ level.

The talented Kolhan University player, Kumar Kushagra a resident of Jamshedpur, was bought for a whopping Rs 7 crore 20 lakh. This hefty sum is an astounding 36 times the player’s base price.

Resident of Ram Nagar in Kadma, Kumar Kushagra gained attention during the previous season (2023-24) while representing Kolhan University. His stellar performance, which included scoring nearly 200 runs, played a pivotal role in securing a coveted spot for the team in the prestigious Rohinton Baria Trophy for the first time.

The 19-year-old was the sixth-highest run getter in the Deodhar Trophy earlier this year with 227 runs in five innings at a strike rate 109.13. This included a fifty for East Zone in the final defeat against South Zone

Kushagra made his presence felt in the Vijay Hazare trophy, smacking a 37-ball 67 as he helped his side surmount a 355-run target against Maharashtra.

The right-handed batter was a part of India’s Under-19 World Cup squad in 2020.

In 2022, Kushagra caught the eyeballs of Indian cricket enthusiasts, after he scored a double hundred against Nagaland in the pre-quarterfinal of the Ranji Trophy, when he was just 17, making him the youngest batter to score 250 or more in a first class innings.

India ‘A’ squad for the 2nd multi-day match: Abhimanyu Easwaran (captain), Sai Sudharsan, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Tilak Varma, Kumar Kushagra, Washington Sundar, Sourabh Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Tushar Deshpande, Vidwath Kaverappa, Upendra Yadav, Akash Deep, Yash Dayal

India ‘A’ squad for the 3rd multi-day match: Abhimanyu Easwaran (captain), Sai Sudharsan, Rajat Patidar, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Kumar Kushagra, Washington Sundar, Shams Mulani, Arshdeep Singh, Tushar Deshpande, Vidwath Kaverappa, Upendra Yadav, Akash Deep, Yash Dayal.