Former Indian player VVS Laxman praised Mayank Agarwal, saying the biggest strengths of the opener were his mental toughness and stability and he plays “fearlessly just like his favourite Virender Sehwag”. In the first Test against South Africa where India registered a win by 203 runs at the ACA-VDCA Stadium, Agarwal scored a brilliant double hundred and helped India put up a massive first-innings total of 502/7 declared.

“He (Agarwal) is a solid batsman and has approached this game like a domestic cricket match. Players usually change the way they play in domestic and international cricket, but he managed to maintain his style in both forms of cricket,” VVS Laxman said on Star Sports’ Cricket Live programme. “His mental toughness and stability are his strength and he plays fearlessly just like his favourite, Virender Sehwag.”

During his 215-run knock, Agarwal also became the only fourth Indian batsman after Dilip Sardesai, Vinod Kambli and Karun Nair to convert his maiden century into a double-century. His innings was included with 23 fours and six sixes. He also shared a 317-run opening partnership with Rohit Sharma and became the third Indian batting pair to stitch together a partnership of 300 runs or more in the longer format of the game.

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“Mayank Agarwal is a good batsman, he uses his feet well comes forward and hits and also executes reverse sweep shots. He has a lot in store and plays them when and where needed,” said Harbhajan Singh.

“He is a hardworking player; the players who come from domestic cricket background have learned a lot. They come in late but have so much knowledge and experience of the game that they value and understand every opportunity that the game brings to them. Rohit Sharma was trying a different game, but Mayank Agarwal stuck to his game played well,” he added.

India will try to win the series in Pune when they will take on South Africa in the second Test which will begin October 10.