Making his international cricket debut on Wednesday, Mayank Agarwal finished the day as a hero after scoring 76 runs on the day one of the Melbourne Test. Carrying his tremendous feeling to achieve the Test cap, Mayank has the wish to play the entire day.
The 27-year-old is the 295th Test member of Indian cricket history and that too he earned at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (Melbourne).
Feeling emotional on his international debut stage, Mayank told at the end of the day one, “It was a tremendous feeling to get the India Test cap. I had a lot of emotions (running through mind) when I got the cap. I will cherish it for the rest of my life. The first thought was 295 (his India cap number).
“It wasn’t easy to get hold of those emotions and focus there, but it needed to be done. I just stuck to my plans and just kept telling myself, “there is a plan that I have to go through and I am just going to stick to that”. Even though it was overwhelming, it was good and I am happy with the way I started.
“It’s a big stage, and a big opportunity, and I had the seniors walk up to me, telling that bigger the day, bigger the opportunity to leave a mark.”
Starting his international career as an opening batsman, Mayank scored 76 runs off 161 balls with the help of 8 fours and only six. Feeling happy with his debutant knock, Mayank had the wish to play the entire day one.
Mayank said, “I am happy but obviously I would have liked more (runs). I would definitely take 76 rather than take something less than that. That said I would have liked to go on, and score more runs and stay not out at the end of the day.”
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Mayank earned his maiden international call-up during the home Test series against Windies in this October. However, he wasn’t picked up in the playing XI at that time. Initially, he was not in the squad of ongoing Test series on the Australian soil but the injury of young Prithvi Shaw has brought the opportunity for him as he has been included in the Test squad as the replacement for last two Tests of the series.
Talking about the whole moment, Mayank said, “Well, I was very happy when I got picked against West Indies. It was a big moment for me. From then on, it wasn’t in my hands. Deciding whether I am going to play or not, or getting picked or not is not in my hands.
“But the good thing was that there was a lot of domestic cricket, and a lot of India A games. So, you make sure you go out there and give your best. Once you keep playing, you know those things don’t keep coming to your mind because you are focusing on that game and trying to win that game for the side.
“You do think about it (selection) but then you are professional and you tell yourself “that’s no something you can control”. So you move ahead, move on and see what’s next for you, prepare for that and once you are in, give your best.”
Making his international cricket debut at the iconic MCG, Mayank feels himself very special and lucky.
The debutant Indian cricketer said, “I just want to say that whatever happened and whatever kept happening, I feel very, very special. I am very lucky because I made my debut at MCG. Every player has to go through scoring runs in Ranji Trophy and doing what he has to do.
“I did that and I am very happy about that. And I learnt a lot as well. When you play Ranji Trophy for five years and play in all parts of India, you learn a lot from that. You face different situations, and it’s always a great learning.”
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Despite most of the Indian top-order got good starts, India finished the day one on 215/2 which had the run-rate of 2.41. Though there was some variable bounce on the opening day, Mayank doesn’t have any complaint about the MCG pitch.
Mayank said about the track, “I won’t complain about the pitch. I thought it was good to bat on. It did do a bit early on and it was slow. And as the day progressed and when we batted after lunch, it got a little quicker. Obviously, I didn’t think too much about the wicket. I just wanted to stay blank and take it as it comes. I thought while I am at the wicket, let me assess the wicket and see how to go about this.”
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Though Pat Cummins (2/40) was the only Australian to pick up the wickets on the opening day, the debutant feels that the hosts bowled extremely well as they mostly kept the line in tight and attacking.
Mayank added, “I thought they bowled extremely well. They didn’t give us many loose balls, they kept it tight and they were attacking. So, with the way they bowled, I thought we played well.”
As the regular Test openers are not in-form, the visitors tried their luck with the new opening partner Hanuma Vihari and debutant Mayank Agarwal. While Vihari generally plays at the no.6 position for the national team, he came to bat as an opener for the first time in his Test career and faced 66 balls where he scored 8 runs before losing his wicket.
However, Vihari and Mayank have a crucial 40-run partnership for the opening wicket before Mayank was dismissed by Cummins.
Speaking about Vihari, Mayank said, “Hanuma Vihari is a good player. He has got tons and tons of runs in Ranji Trophy. He has got runs in ‘A’ cricket and he has got a triple hundred at No 3. So, I don’t think it was too hard for him. He adjusted very well. We started off very well. Though we might not have got a big score, but we did manage to play a lot of balls, which was good. Agarwal is hopeful that with so many players who can bat long, a big score is there for the taking.
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“Obviously it’s nice to have guys who can bat long and we are doing that. We are playing that many number of balls and we are playing that many number of sessions. So, it’s only going to go well for us. The longer we bat, the better it is for us.”
