The Indian opener, Mayank Agarwal has witnessed a had a whirlwind start to his international career. He heaped a humungous amount of runs in the domestic cricket and earned his selection for the national squad. He made his debut in Test cricket mid-way through the 2018-19 Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Mayank scored a fifty in his debut innings at the colosseum that is the Melbourne Cricket Ground, where he ran through the Australian bowlers. He did that again in the next Test in Sydney and although he failed to convert his fifties, which is so unlike Mayank who has a deep penchant for huge centuries, he scored enough to nail down the openers’ spot.

Agarwal finally breached the barrier in Vizag against a hapless South African attack to the tune of 215. In a recent interview with ESPNCricinfo, he revealed how skipper Virat Kohli motivated him to convert his century into a monstrous score.

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Revealing the conversation, Mayank said, “Against South Africa when I got a 150, Virat [Kohli] was there at the other end and he said “Nothing short of a 200 will do. You’re batting well, make sure to not just score for yourself but for your team. The team needs to get a bigger score and it’s important for you to be there to help us get that score at a faster pace.”

Mayank Agarwal was on the verge on another double ton when he clobbered Bangladesh bowling attack with a score of 243. And, everyone saw how Virat Kohli motivated him with his gestures to just keep batting.

Recalling the same, Mayank said, “Nothing short of 200 is gonna do, he said. So when I got to 150, it was a reminder from his side that we have spoken about these things. Now you’ve got to go out there and execute because you’re batting well, you’re in the middle, the team’s in a good position and the team requires you to take us through to more.”

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Mayank will not be facing the potent Kiwi attack in conditions ideally suited for seam and swing and by the evidence of the practice match in Hamilton- bounce. It will difficult for especially after the ‘A’ tour; where he score just 36 runs in the three one-day games and could manage only 1 run in the first innings of the ongoing practice match, but now batting at 23 in the second innings.