India A's Ishan Kishan escapes dissent charge despite anger on overnight ball change

On the final and fourth day of the first unofficial Test between India A and Australia A at Mackay's Great Barrier Reef Arena, wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan was involved in a controversy following a heated exchange with umpire Shawn Craig over a ball change decision.

The incident took place before the first delivery of the day when Craig informed the Indian team about an overnight ball change because it was scratched but a Cricket Australia statement later said it was due to deterioration. Following the revelation, eight India A players had an intense discussion about the same, with Kishan reportedly describing it as a "very stupid decision" a comment picked up by the stump microphones on the cricket.com.au stream.

Umpire Craig warned Kishan for inappropriate behaviour and alerted the wicketkeeper that he could face charges of dissent. However, the specifics behind the ball change remained unclear, with officials not explaining their decision. Notably, the umpires chose not to impose the customary five-run penalty that typically leads to situations where a ball's condition is considered to have been unfairly altered.

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Kishan, who has represented India in two Tests among his 61 international appearances, played a fighting 32-run knock in the second innings, but it wasn't enough to prevent an Australian victory. Australia A's Nathan McSweeney's unbeaten 88 and Beau Webster's 61 not out, helped the side successfully chase down the target of 225 with seven wickets to spare.

In the match, India A's Sai Sudharsan scored a brilliant 103 in the second innings, while Australia A's Brendan Doggett claimed impressive figures of 6/15 in India's first-innings collapse of 107. 

Looking ahead, the teams will move to the Melbourne Cricket Ground for the second unofficial Test beginning Thursday. With three members of India A's current squad, Prasidh Krishna, Nitish Kumar Reddy, and Abhimanyu Easwaran named in India's Test squad for the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy, their performances will be closely monitored as they prepare for the upcoming series.