TIL Desk Sports/ Under pressure to prove his worth, Mayank Agarwal made the best statement possible with a superb hundred as India recovered from a top-order collapse to reach 221 for 4 in two extended opening day sessions against New Zealand in the second Test in Mumbai on Friday.
Agarwal (120 batting, 246 balls), who is all but certain to sit out once Rohit Sharma and K.L. Rahul come back during the next series (if South Africa then away, if West Indies then home), added to a happy headache for coach Rahul Dravid, on a day when vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane had to be “dropped” because of a hamstring niggle.
Worse, Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli failed to trouble the scorers. It was a hundred that came under pressure with India being 80 for 3 and 160 for 4 at different stages of the game. Had the Indian team management been forced to play Rahane, the axe was likely to fall on Agarwal and it’s never a great feeling to go out there in such a situation.
He was jittery to begin with as a streaky boundary through slips came early on but once he marched down the track to loft Ajaz Patel (29-10-73-4) for a straight six, his nerves had all but vanished. The boundaries – 14 in all and four sixes, all off Patel – showed his class as he got his fourth hundred in Tests. In fact, Patel, who was by far the best New Zealand bowler in view, having reduced India from 80 for no loss to 80 for three, did look pedestrian in front of Agarwal at times.
