India A clung on for a dramatic draw against Australia A in Puducherry on October 2, 2026, with an eighth-wicket stand between Yash Rathod and Shams Mulani surviving more than 36 overs to see out the second and final unofficial Test and secure a 1-0 series victory. It was the kind of rearguard that fringe first-class cricketers dream of being remembered for, played out in front of modest crowds but watched closely by national selectors assessing the next tier of Indian batting and bowling talent.
A Target Too Far
Chasing an imposing 365 to win, India A resumed the final day in trouble at 28 for one and slipped further to 199 for seven inside 61 overs, putting the result beyond doubt and leaving only pride and a series scoreline to play for. From there, Rathod and Mulani added 80 priceless runs together, batting through 16 overs with the second new ball in play, grinding the match to 310 for nine by the close.
Two Contrasting Knocks
Rathod made 80 from 138 balls before falling leg-before to Liam Scott with seven overs still to survive, while Mulani, more renowned for his left-arm spin than his batting, compiled a defiant 29 from 131 deliveries before also succumbing to Scott two overs later. Scott finished with 5 for 37, the key wicket-taking performance of the Australian attack on the final day. With three overs remaining and the match hanging by a thread, Bhute and Hinge came together to see out the remainder unbeaten and complete the draw. The tension of those closing overs, with Australia A needing just one more wicket to force a series-levelling win, turned what had looked like a routine defeat into one of the more memorable finishes of the domestic calendar this year.
A Target Built On Earlier Australian Dominance
The 365-run target had been set up by a strong Australia A performance across the first three days, with the tourists using the conditions early before India A’s bowlers found it difficult to break through consistently in the second innings. That Australia A came as close as they did to forcing a result, with Liam Scott’s 5 for 37 doing most of the damage on the final day, underlined how competitive the series was even though the overall scoreline reads as a comfortable 1-0 win for the hosts.
Mulani’s All-Round Series
The draw came on the back of an emphatic 162-run win for India A in the series opener, where Shams Mulani took seven wickets in the match and wicketkeeper-batter Kumar Kushagra scored a match-defining 113. Across the two games, Mulani’s seven-wicket haul in the first Test and his match-saving resistance with the bat in the second were enough for him to be named Player of the Series, a double contribution that selectors will note given the left-armer’s growing reputation as a genuine all-round option in Indian domestic cricket.
What A Series Like This Means For Fringe Players
Unofficial “A” team fixtures rarely draw the attention of a full international Test, but they function as an important proving ground, with India A captained by Devdutt Padikkal and vice-captained by Sai Sudharsan this series. For players like Rathod, Mulani, Kushagra and seam-bowling all-rounder Tushar Deshpande, who made a defiant 52 earlier in the chase, performances in these matches directly shape conversations inside national selection panels about who is next in line when senior places open up. Supporters of the “A” tour system argue these games replicate Test pressure more closely than any other domestic format, while skeptics note that results and conditions in such series can be unrepresentative of what players will face at full international level, since touring sides do not always field their strongest XIs.
What’s Next
The two four-day matches were followed immediately by a three-match one-day series between the sides in Puducherry, played on October 6, 9 and 11, giving both India A and Australia A further opportunity to press claims in the white-ball format before the squads disperse back to their respective domestic and international commitments. For India’s national selectors, the one-day leg offers a further data point on players like Kushagra and Deshpande before squads are finalized for the next round of India’s own international white-ball fixtures, while Australia’s management will be assessing how their fringe batting group responds after letting a winning position slip in the series finale.
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