The left-handed opener played a few streaky shots, including a boundary through the slip cordon off the first ball of the match from James Anderson, before growing in confidence, once the Brabourne Stadium wicket eased out a bit.
Once settled after the initial sluggishness, Mukund dished out more authentic-looking shots before getting out on the stroke of lunch to Graeme Swann for 73 that included 16 hits to the fence.
The other two batsmen out in the pre-lunch session were Murali Vijay for seven and one-drop Ajinkya Rahane for four. Both faced 19 balls apiece. Vijay was run out going for a sharp single while Rahane was dismissed by a short, rising ball to his rib cage.
At lunch Yuvraj Singh, lucky to be dropped off the first ball he faced, was not out on 27 off 28 balls. He had struck five fours, most of them to the straight field, and a six over long off off Samit Patel just before the break.
Mukund, who had survived a confident shout for leg before off Anderson in the first over, was out in the last over before the break when he flicked off spinner Swann off the back foot only to find Ian Bell at short-leg who took a smart catch.
Earlier opting to bat after skipper Suresh Raina won the toss, India A lost Vijay (7 in 19 balls) early as he paid the penalty for trying to steal a run right under the nose of the rival bowler Tim Bresnan. MORE
