After the hard battle on the first day of the Wellington Test, the Indian opening batsman Mayank Agarwal talked about their game.
On Friday (21st February) morning, The hosts New Zealand sent the visitors India to bat first. From the starting moment of the day, the visitors were struggling with the bat. While they scored 122/5 (55 overs) on the day one, the last session was completely washed out in the rain.
Apart from the opener Mayank Agarwal (34) and the Test vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane (38*), the other Indian batsmen have failed to reach the 20-run mark.
Talking about their performance on day one, Mayank Agarwal claimed that it was not easy for the batsmen to set on the pitch.
Agarwal said after the day’s play, “I think it is quite tricky since the wind blows at more than a decent speed here. And you just have to make adjustments right there on the field. As a batsman, it’s not easy, especially the first day, on this track.
“As a batsman, you never felt that you were completely in because even after lunch, it was doing a little bit.”
In the last 30 years, Mayank Agarwal became the only Indian opening batsman to survive the opening session in the New Zealand Test.
Mayank Agarwal praised Kyle Jamieson
New Zealand Test debutant Kyle Jamieson bowled superbly on the day one. The right-arm tall pacer took three wickets, and the batsmen were Cheteshwar Pujara (11), Virat Kohli (2) and Hanuma Vihari (7). Jamieson finished the day with the bowling figures of 14-2-38-3.
The Indian opener Agarwal praised Jamieson by quoting, “I thought he (Jamieson) bowled exceedingly well. He hit good areas and he got a good bounce. The way he used the new ball was fantastic and he kept testing us bowling in the right areas.
“Since the wicket was soft, he was getting extra kick as well. As a batsman, you have to make that little extra adjustment to the bounce, which can be a little tricky.
“It is a combination of both. With that height on this wicket, with the areas and the consistency he showed, it was terrific.”
Mayank Agarwal spoke about his batting
Mayank Agarwal faced 84 balls in that innings where he scored 34 runs with the help of five boundaries. Though he didn’t get strikes for sometimes in the early second session, he had no problem on that.
Agarwal said, “I don’t really think about all of those things while I am batting. If you are playing well and if you are addressing the ball well, it’s fine. It really doesn’t matter, especially in these conditions. It’s alright to be at the non-striker’s end.”
Agarwal was dismissed after going for a pull shot which he failed to control and was caught out at the long leg. He feels that they need to be aware of the conditions.
He claimed, “That is definitely something we spoke about after I came back. You definitely want to be aware of the conditions while playing.”
Ajinkya Rahane (38*) and Rishabh Pant (10*) will start the second day. Mayank Agarwal is hoping for a big partnership between Rahane and Rishabh who have already provided 21 runs partnership for the unbroken sixth wicket.
Agarwal said, “To be honest, as many runs that we can make and as long as we can bat, it will be good for us. The way Ajinkya is batting is very good (for us). He is looking solid and I really hope that he and Rishabh can get a big partnership and take us to a big score.”