After marking his return to the India A red-ball team with a century against Australia A on the second morning in Puducherry, Kumar Kushagra raised his bat and looked skywards, more in relief than elation.
The 21-year-old wicketkeeper-batter had retired hurt on the opening day on 82 due to cramps caused by Puducherry's intense heat. He needed on-field treatment multiple times during his innings on day one and around 40 minutes before stumps, he was cramping up so badly that he couldn't even hold his bat. Kushagra retired hurt and limped off the field, with one of the Indian support staff carrying his bat back to the dressing room.
Kushagra, however, returned to bat on day two and resumed as if he was never away. When fast bowler Brendan Doggett slid an inswinger down the leg side, Kushagra neatly picked him away fine past the keeper for four. Then when Fergus O'Neill bowled a perfectly pitched delivery on off, Kushagra made it look like a bad ball, with some serious whippage. He picked it from an off-stump line and shovelled it away with his bottom wrist through the vacant spaces at midwicket.
Soon after Kushagra brought up his hundred, his second in as many matches. The celebration and the construction of the hundreds couldn't have been more starker.
In the Duleep Trophy final earlier this month on a benign Chepauk pitch, Kushagra came out to the crease at 241 for 4 and simply had to launch from the platform laid by East Zone captain Ishan Kishan and rookie Shikhar Mohan. The Chennai pitch remained flat and Kushagra helped himself to a hundred and celebrated it with gusto, turning his bat into a violin and mimed playing some music.
Around two weeks later in Puducherry, Kushagra wasn't the one playing the music; instead he was the one facing some chin music from Brendan Doggett and Fergus O'Neill, both of whom were reversing the older ball sharply. With twin short midwickets in place and the ball tailing sharply into Kushagra, the quicks attacked Kushagra's upper body.
Kushagra, though, diffused those testing spells and refused to take any undue risks on a mixed-soil surface, which offered variable bounce. After walking in at 86 for 4, which soon became 97 for 5, Kushagra also respected Corey Rocchiccioli, who was generating unusual bounce with his tall frame to go with drift and turn.
Kushagra was also assured in his footwork against Todd Murphy, the other offspinner, going right forward to smother the turn or right back to manufacture some scoring opportunities.
It was only after he passed fifty that Kushagra clicked into a higher gear, drilling part-time legspinner Jason Sangha for fours in successive overs. In all he took Sangha for 17 off 23 balls, but continued to be circumspect against the specialist spinners until he jumped too far across off and missed a big-turning offbreak from Rocchiccoli on day two. By then, Kushagra had moved past his hundred and India A past 325.
Kushagra is only 21, but has already demonstrated his ability to adjust his tempo to the demands of the game situation. It's perhaps why he's part of BCCI's targetted pool of players and was picked ahead of N Jagadeesan for this game. Kushagra seized his chance and put his name forward for higher honours, with a three-match unofficial Test series in New Zealand also on the horizon.
Rishabh Pant continues to do Rishabh Pant things in Test cricket, while Dhruv Jurel, who is now playing as a specialist batter, is the back-up wicketkeeper in the side. Ishan Kishan could be back in the India A red-ball mix after cracking 270 in the Duleep Trophy final earlier this month, and now his Jharkhand junior Kushagra has also returned to the India A mix.
Kushagra has always had the potential. He scored a Ranji Trophy double-hundred when he was 17, becoming one of the youngest ever to the landmark. Then when he was 19, in a chase of 356 against Maharashtra in the 50-overs Vijay Hazare Trophy, he attracted the attention of IPL scouts with an unbeaten 67 off 36 balls.
Kushagra is now matured enough to slide up and down the order and make an impact anywhere. In the most recent 20-overs Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, he moved up to No.3 and maximised the powerplay along with Kishan in Jharkhand's run to the title.
Now, at 21, Kushagra is a better rounded batter, having enjoyed success across formats, according to Jharkhand head coach Ratan Kumar, who has overseen Kushagra's progress from his Under-16 days.
"When I took over as head coach of the Jharkhand senior team last year, our primary objective was clear: Kushagra had the talent, but we needed runs from him across all three formats," Kumar said after leading East Zone to the Duleep title in Chennai earlier this month. "We focused heavily on that, and he stepped up by scoring nearly 1500 runs across formats last season.
"From there, the sky has been the limit. He broke into India A, had a great tour to Sri Lanka, and we want him to push on and represent the senior Indian team."
Kushagra is still a long way away from breaking into the India side, but with contrasting hundreds for East Zone in the Duleep final and for India A against Australia A, he has certainly staked a strong claim for an India A berth for the unofficial Tests in New Zealand in October-November.