The Indian cricket team has finally found someone to handle the onus of the opening department, who is solid both at home and away. After all the recent struggles that saw a flurry of openers losing their sheen, the entry of Mayank Agarwal solves so much of the issues. A champion domestic player, Mayank Agarwal Test Career let everyone known of his intentions at the end of last year when he made his much-awaited debut against the Aussies at the MCG.
Mayank Agarwal Test Career 8th innings in Tests, Mayank stood like a rock to notch an impressive double century against South Africa in the ongoing first Test against South Africa in Vizag. To come out and amass a maiden ton and then converting it into a double was a sweet effort by the Karnataka batsman.
By scoring 215 in the first innings against the Proteas, Mayank Agarwal Test Career joined an elite list of Indians who converted their maiden Test ton into a double. Mayank Agarwal became the fourth Indian after Dilip Sardesai vs NZ, 1965, Vinod Kambli vs Eng, 1993 and Karun Nair vs Eng, 2016.
Everything seemed to right about Mayank’s technique. He looked at ease against both pace and spin. He went on to play a wide range of shots and the hallmark of his innings was playing a lot straighter. That saw him pick the loose balls and dispatch them into the stands. He hit 23 fours and six sixes to show his authority.
With India plying their trades in the ICC World Test Championship, Mayank’s role becomes all the more important. And this innings will give him a lot of confidence later in his Test career. Also, this was his maiden Test innings on Indian soil. He is a solid customer at home as seen in domestic cricket over the years. Notably, he is also someone who can go on to get the big scores rather than settling in for a baby hundred.
Here we look at Mayank Agarwal Test Career, who has become India’s principle Test opener and his transformation from domestic to international cricket. Also, we look at his record-breaking innings.
Mayank Agarwal Test Career register record-breaking double ton
Take a bow, Mayank Agarwal 🙌🙌@Paytm #INDvSA pic.twitter.com/ESHjPbXP1A
— BCCI (@BCCI) October 3, 2019
This innings of Mayank had all the essentials of a proper Test opener. He wanted to make his presence felt and cash in on the chance after skipper Virat Kohli won the toss and chose to bat. As time progressed, Mayank’s eyes lit up and the shots followed in. The more comfortable he got, the range of shots improved.
The 28-year-old is a mature Test batsman and for now, he has done all the right things in a short Test career. That lifts the entire dressing room in knowing that a player is willing to put in a shift. It was a lot of comfort in watching him bat on Day 1 and Day 2. The base he set for India was an important aspect of this Vizag Test.
Mayank Agarwal Test Career’s 215 is now the second-best score by an Indian in Test cricket against the Proteas. Former legend Virender Sehwag’s 319 is still the highest score by an Indian against SA. Mayank also became only the second batsman to score a double century in the very first Test innings on Indian soil after former Aussie Dean Jones (210).
The stylish opener also became the 86th Indian to score a Test hundred, besides becoming the 33rd Indian opener to smash a century. He is only the third Indian in the current set-up to smash a doubleton. Notably, Mayank Agarwal Test Career register him as the 23rd Indian to score a double century in Test cricket.
Mayank has found a solid partner in Rohit
India made a brilliant decision to choose Rohit Sharma as the opener in Tests against South Africa. Rohit, who played all of his 27 Tests in the middle order prior to this, was allowed the freedom. He has been a celebrated limited-overs opener and the identification to allow him to be aggressive atop paid dividends.
Rohit set up India’s dominance with a splendid 176. He got the runs so freely and one was remembered of the kind of influence Sehwag had for India. Like Sehwag, Rohit too is aggressive, dangerous and has all the range of shot-making attributes. Against the Proteas, Rohit and Mayank amassed a 317-run record-breaking stand.
One hopes this is just the beginning of a new journey for India. The duo reminded us of Sehwag-Gambhir pair in the past. They had amassed 4,412 partnership runs as an opening pair at 52.52. Mayank is more of a Gambhir here in this situation and can lend the support to Rohit.
They understood each other well and batted so brilliantly together. Their partnership runs were India’s best partnership for any wicket against SA in Tests. What Rohit will allow Mayank is the freedom to go out and express himself without taking many risks.
Mayank’s transformation to be India’s principle Test opener
Mayank is all about hard work and labor. He has the knack of putting in the shifts and working continuously to better his game with each passing phase. The rise of him is solely based on determination and hunger. He has worked hard and been patient all this while. You need a stroke of luck and he got that when he went on to replace an injured Prithvi Shaw in the series against Australia Down Under.
The right-handed batsman has scored heavy runs in domestic cricket over the years. The Karnataka batsman was the top-scorer in 2017/18 Ranji with 1,160 runs at a stunning average of 105.45. He also had a triple century to his name. His prominence grew as 2018 progressed. He continued in the same vein for India A and India B in List A and first-class matches.
In October 2018, he scored a brisk 90 for Board President’s XI against the visiting West Indies in Vadodara. A natural stroke-player, Agarwal also shined with the bat in the Irani Trophy against Vidharbha in February 2019. He got scores of 95 and 27 against the Ranji Trophy champions. He is someone who has an all-round dimension across formats. However, it’s Test cricket that Mayank is in a lot of sync with.
With Shaw suspended, KL Rahul being dropped and the doors almost being shut for veterans Shikhar Dhawan and Murali Vijay, the onus is now on Mayank. He is India’s main opener at the moment. Rohit and third-choice opener Shubman Gill follow suit.
To make your debut 9-10 months ago and then cementing your place as the first-choice opener shows where hard work can get you. Now it’s time to build on this.
As VVS Laxman posted on Twitter, “Mayank is the poster boy for the whole generation of First-class cricketers that if you keep performing the chances will eventually come and whey they do, you’d be ready.”