Australia A Tour India A 1st Unofficial Test Bengaluru May 2026 — Sai Sudharsan 124 Anatomy

The 1st unofficial Test between India A and Australia A in Bengaluru opened on a green-tinged Chinnaswamy deck with a Kookaburra ball that swung for the first 18 overs, and Sai Sudharsan walked in at 8 for 1 after Yashasvi Jaiswal's second-ball edge to first slip. Sudharsan's 124, scored in 213 balls over the next five sessions, was the kind of innings the senior India selectors have been asking him for. The Spencer Johnson spell at the top of the second day was the test he had to pass. He passed it. The senior selection note has now been written, and the only question is whether it gets used for the England series in July.

The Spencer Johnson Spell

Spencer Johnson is the Australia A spearhead and his Test selection at home is being held back for workload reasons. He bowled the 11th to 18th overs on Day 2 with the Kookaburra still hooping. The plan against Sudharsan was a fourth-stump line with the cordon set at three slips and a gully. Johnson bowled 26 deliveries to Sudharsan in that spell and Sudharsan left 18 of them. The leave-rate of 69 per cent against a Test-quality left-arm spell is the kind of number that gets remembered.

The two attacking shots in the spell were both off Johnson's straighter line. The first was a punch off the back foot through midwicket; the second was a leave-and-clip off the pads for two. Johnson did not concede a boundary in his spell. He did not get a wicket either. The spell that Australia A had banked on for a top-order break passed without one.

The Leave Rate and the Bigger Pattern

Sudharsan's leave rate across his 213 balls was 41 per cent — the highest of any India A or India senior batter in red-ball cricket in the last 12 months. The data point matters because Test batting in SENA conditions is built around the leave. Sudharsan's career leave-rate before this innings was 28 per cent, which had been the technical argument against him for senior Test selection. He has now produced one innings that suggests the gap can close.

The acceleration phase came after he reached 60. Once Johnson was rested and Cameron Boyce came on with the leg-spin matchup, Sudharsan switched to a strike rate of 71 between his fifty and his hundred. The Boyce matchup is one he has dominated for two years across the IPL and the Ranji Trophy.

The Captain's Innings Question

This was Sudharsan's first 100-plus knock in a four-day match where he was named the senior batter on the team sheet. The India A side included three Test-experienced players in Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devdutt Padikkal, and Sarfaraz Khan, but the team management designated Sudharsan as the senior batter for the series. The captaincy point — Sudharsan stayed at the crease for both sessions on Day 2 and saw out the day at 89 not out — is the kind of detail the senior selectors have started to weigh.

Australia A's Bowling Plan and the Drift

Australia A's plan was new ball from Johnson and Riley Meredith, with Sean Abbott and Boyce held back for the middle. The drift came when Johnson was rested at the 19th over instead of the planned 24th — captain Cameron Bancroft saw the Bengaluru pitch flattening and brought Abbott on early to attack the right-hand–left-hand combination of Sudharsan and Padikkal. Abbott's spell of 7 overs went for 31 with no wickets, and Sudharsan scored 22 of those 31.

The plan was not wrong; the timing was. Johnson should have bowled one more spell.

The India Senior Test Selection Signal

Sai Sudharsan has now scored four 50-plus knocks in his last six red-ball innings, and the leave rate against a moving Kookaburra is the technical confirmation the senior selectors had been waiting for. The India Test side for the England tour in July is built around Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, and KL Rahul in the top four. Sudharsan is the strongest No. 5 candidate, ahead of Devdutt Padikkal and Sarfaraz Khan on the current data.

What This Match Has Set Up

India A finished Day 2 at 318 for 4 with Sudharsan on 124 and Padikkal on 47. Australia A will need to bat well on Day 3 to keep the match competitive; the projected India A first-innings total is 480-plus on a deck that is now flattening.

Related coverage

• the 2026-27 international calendar
• WTC Final cycle
• Australia A Tour India A
• Australia Vs Zimbabwe May 2026

What to Watch Next

The Sudharsan-Padikkal partnership on Day 3 morning — Australia A's second new ball will arrive in 23 overs and that is the next technical test.