Mukesh Kumar turned 'Thor' to help groundstaff as he hammered the bowling area hard as the staff members watched on during the India A vs Australia A 1st unofficial Test match. (More Cricket News)
The incident took place at the end of the 45th over of the second innings of Australia. India A bowlers had some issues with the spot where the front-foot was landing. The groundstaff arrived with a hammer to flatten the area but the Bengal pacer took the matter in his own hands.
Mukesh hammered the area for a while as his India A teammates guided him on how he should be doing it and the groundstaff just stood and watched. A similar incident had happened earlier in the day as well.
Australia A were at 129/3 at the time of this incident. The day ended soon after due to bad light and Australia A had reached 139/3 by stumps. The hosts will now need just 86 runs on the final day to win the first of the two unofficial Test matches.
India A had set a 215-run target for their Australian counterpart after getting bowled out for 312 in exact 100 overs on the third day. Tamil Nadu batter Sai Sudharasan hit a century for India A while Karnataka batter Devdutt Padikkal got an important 88. Other batters disappointed and the next best score for the side was Ishan Kishan's 32.
In the first innings, India A found it tough against young Australian pacers and were bowled out for just 107. Mukesh then picked up a six-fer to stop Australia A at 195 in the first innings.
