Kushal, playing in Category A, led Prakhar Asawa (66) by one shot.
Kushal's effort was extremely noteworthy as he found five birdies against no bogeys for an excellent round. He had two birdies in first three holes and then three more on back nine.
Arjun Singh was two shots behind Kushal in Category A with a round of 67, while three others, Aman Raj, Jairaj Singh Sandhu and Yashas Chandra shot 68 each.
One of the pre-event favourites, Manu Gandas, who has won last three events, shot 73 and was way behind.
In Category B, Asawa also had five birdies, three on front nine and two more on back nine. But he also dropped a bogey on the par-5 12th hole.
Viraj Madappa, a local lad shot 69, as did Shivnaren Srinivasan and Mohan Sardar in Category B.
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The course was playing easy and resulted in good scores through the day with a dozen under par scores.
The weather was generally very good with very light wind. The greens were kept at a speed of nine.
The 6,000-yard Clover Greens, one of the best courses in Southern India, has three par-5s, five par three holes and ten par-4s holes for a total of par 70.