Duleep Trophy final: Kumar Kushagra hammers his sixth FC hundred
What's the story
Jharkhand's Kumar Kushagra struck a fine hundred for East Zone in the ongoing Duleep Trophy 2026-27 final against South Zone at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. Kushagra batted with great intent and reached the three-figure mark on Day 2 morning. He added 230 runs alongside skipper and fellow centurion Ishan Kishan to torment the South Zone bowlers. Here we look at his performance and stats.
Batting brilliance
Kushagra shines in East Zone's 1st innings
Top-order batters Abhimanyu Easwaran (72), Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (44), and Shikhar Mohan (85) were brilliant for East Zone, as the team was well placed at 241/4 when Kushagra arrived to bat on Day 1.
He joined forces with Kishan, and the duo added to South Zone's misery.
Both batters returned unbeaten on Day 1 and continued the good work on Day 2 morning.
Kushagra, who scored 63 runs on the opening day, took just 128 balls to complete his hundred.
However, he fell soon after reaching the landmark.
Stats
Here are his FC stats
Kushagra was dismissed for 101 off 132 balls, hitting eight fours and five sixes during his innings.
As per Cricinfo, this was his sixth hundred, as he also owns as many fifties.
The 21-year-old, who made his First-Class debut for Jharkhand in 2022, has now raced to 2,291 runs at an average of over 40 in 56 innings.
His previous scores in the ongoing Duleep Trophy were 0, 22, and 55.
Information
His run in 2025-26 Ranji season
Kushagra made a mark in the 2025-26 Ranji Trophy season as well. Across eight games and 12 innings, he scored 572 runs at an average of 47.66. Two of his three 50-plus scores were converted into tons. Kushagra finished as Jharkhand's third-highest run-getter.