Australia vs India 2018/19: Mayank Agarwal Breaks 71-year-old Record With Fifty On Debut
May 23, 2023 at 6:52 PM
After piling up runs in domestic cricket for a year, not getting a chance in the playing eleven in his maiden Test series and getting dropped even without playing, Mayank Agarwal finally made his debut in the ongoing third Test against Australia. He got the chance due to some luck.
The right-hander was included in the squad for the last two games after Prithvi Shaw was ruled out due to an ankle injury. And with Murali Vijay and KL Rahul out of form, Agarwal was drafted in the playing eleven straightaway. And it did not take the Karnataka star very long to justify the faith shown in him.
Despite facing a hostile bowling early on, he showed remarkable patience and bravery to showcase his immense potential. The right-hander then went on to reap the rewards for his bravery in the form of a stunning fifty on his debut.
He scored 76 before Pat Cummins made him edge one behind to the wicketkeeper Tim Paine. But before that Agarwal had entered the record books due to his entertaining knock. Agarwal has now become the top-scoring Indian batsman on Test debut in Australia. He broke a 71-year-old record which was held by Dattu Phadkar.
Phadkar had scored 51 runs on his debut against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground in 1947.
Coming to the game, India finished day one on a commanding 215 for 2. Makeshift opener Hanuma Vihari did enough to see off the new ball, playing out 66 balls for his 8 runs. He and Agarwal added 40 runs for the first wicket before Cummins dismissed him. Agarwal and Cheteshwar Pujara then shared a 83-run stand to lay the platform before Cummins struck to remove the former. But there was no respite for the hosts as Pujara and skipper Virat Kohli shared an unbeaten stand of 92 runs to put India in the driver’s seat.