Anshul Kamboj exploits tricky Puducherry pitch as India ‘A’ beat Australia ‘A’

PUDUCHERRY: The heat in Puducherry was unforgiving. The pitch offered little movement for the pace bowlers. Yet, India ‘A’ paceman Anshul Kamboj found a way to make things work.Kamboj was the first to strike in the morning session, using the cracks and variable bounce to dismiss Australia ‘A’ batters Nathan McSweeney and Peter Handscomb in consecutive overs to set up a 162-run win in the first unofficial Test here on Friday. McSweeney was surprised by the extra bounce before Handscomb was beaten by one that stayed low and crashed into the off stump.Left-arm spinner Shams Mulani (3-57) and medium-pacer Tushar Deshpande (3-14) took three wickets apiece as the Aussies folded for 200 while chasing 363 in the last innings.Kamboj, after returning figures of 2-25, said that the conditions were difficult for the pacers. “It was too hot for fast bowling. You have to put in a lot of effort to maintain the intensity. I am very happy that I am able to maintain that,” Kamboj said after the win.The surface, with its “whitish soil” and limited bounce, demanded discipline and an understanding of the areas to bowl in. “This is whitish soil. So here it was just that we always have to keep the wickets in play and bowl within stumps,” he said.Kamboj first underlined his red-ball credentials with an eight-wicket innings haul in Duleep Trophy and then produced a 10-wicket innings haul against Kerala in Ranji Trophy in 2024. His reward came in July 2025 when he was handed his Test debut at Old Trafford. He took 1-89 before being left out after that.Kamboj, though, refuses to see one match as a setback. “I am not trying to change anything. If one or two matches go wrong in your career, it doesn’t mean that you are bad. Everyone can see your hard work. If I just keep working hard, the results will fall in favour,” the 25-year-old said.He was also CSK’s leading wicket-taker in the 2026 season, finishing with 21 scalps. Now he has another opportunity to take his game to another level under new head coach Zaheer Khan. “I am very excited to meet him. I had a camp with him in CoE in Bengaluru.”Brief scores: India ‘A’ 334 & 199. Australia ‘A’ 171 & 200 (F O'Neill 47; T Deshpande 3-14, S Mulani 3-57). India ‘A’ won by 162 runs.Pandya suffers fresh shin injury, out of NZ series: Hardik Pandya has suffered a fresh right-shin injury and is set to miss at least three weeks, ruling him out of India’s white-ball tour of New Zealand. He was earler picked for India A’s One Day series against Australia ‘A’.Stay updated with the latest Asian Games 2026 news, check the Asian Games medal tally and complete Asian Games schedule.Get the latest Sports News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.