Kumar Kushagra, a right-handed wicketkeeper-batter who plays for Jharkhand in domestic cricket and for Gujarat Titans in the IPL, has received his maiden call-up to the Indian team. He’ll be part of the ODI squad for the final two of the five 50-over matches on the tour of New Zealand, which begins later this month.
Born on October 23, 2004, Kushagra has played 38 first-class matches and scored 2,507 runs at an average above 42. On the domestic circuit, Kushagra is known as a gritty middle-order batter who can play in any position from number three to six, and has a penchant for standing up in difficult situations.
Everything you need to know about Kumar Kushagra
His story began in a house where cricket was treated as a discipline. His father, Shashikant, a GST district commissioner who never
played the game, bought coaching books and pasted cut-outs of good shots on the walls.
When Kushagra video-called his mother from a hotel at the 2023 Deodhar Trophy, she told him to focus only on his cricket. Inspired by MS Dhoni, he took up wicketkeeping at ten, and at 15 he was the youngest member of India’s 2020 Under-19 World Cup squad.
The wider cricket world noticed him in 2022, when he scored 266 against Nagaland in the Ranji Trophy pre-quarterfinal. At 17 years and 141 days, he became the youngest to score 250 in first-class cricket. In the 2023 Deodhar Trophy, he made 227 runs at 56.75 while batting at No. 7.
The IPL followed. Delhi Capitals paid Rs 7.2 crore for him at the 2024 auction, 36 times his base price, but he scored three runs in four appearances and was released.
Gujarat Titans signed him for Rs 65 lakh in 2025 and retained him for 2026, and he made his debut for them on April 4 against Rajasthan Royals.
His recent form has been strong. In 2025-26 he scored 422 runs in ten games as Jharkhand won their first Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, including 81 off 38 balls in the final. He made 234 against Baroda in the Ranji Trophy and finished the season with 572 runs at 47.66.
This September, he scored a hundred in the Duleep Trophy final for East Zone, then 113 for India A against Australia A in Puducherry.
