The Indian team management Team India took a brave call by dropping both the under-performing openers KL Rahul and Murali Vijay and come up with the brand new pair of Mayank Agarwal (debutant) and Hanuma Vihari for the third and most important Test match of the series. Agarwal made his debut as he came into the squad for Prithvi Shaw and opened the innings with Vihari. This step was a forced one thanks to the performances of Rahul and Vijay who didn’t do much in the four innings at the top of the order.
Mayank, however, grabbed his chance and rose to the occasion in front of close to 70,000 spectators at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground. The 295th Test player for India showed no signs of nervousness against the new ball and played confidently. He faced Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood with the new cherry and played some exquisite strokes.
Agarwal went into the lunch unharmed and proved that he belongs at the highest level and went on to score a half-century as well. He continued to bat well in the post-lunch session and handled Nathan Lyon really well stepping out of his crease to him. He also smacked him for a six before going on to hit a couple of boundaries straight down the ground. Just when it looked like Agarwal will go past the three-figure mark on his debut, Pat Cummins got the better of him at the stroke of Tea.
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Nevertheless, Mayank went on to score 76 runs off 161 deliveries and justified his selection in the Test squad. Immediate success for Mayank has put KL Rahul’s Test career in the doldrums now and it will be interesting to see if he is even retained in the squad now for the next Test series. Twitterati also observed the same and trolled Rahul feeling that Agarwal should’ve replaced him long ago.
Here’s how Twitter reacted:
KL Rahul can kiss his chances goodbye 👋He will not be missed in the Indian team
— TruthBeTold (@DazzlingLikeSun) December 26, 2018
Mayank Agarwal should thank KL Rahul for his brilliant half century. Had KL played sensibly in past, Mayank wouldn't have been in team. The selfless player KL is (like Rohit), he didn't perform only to sacrifice his place for Mayank. Thank you @klrahul11.
— THE SKIN DOCTOR (@theskindoctor13) December 26, 2018
#MayankAgarwal seems the perfect substitute for KL Rahul & Vijay..runs he scored this innings are more than the runs scored by them in last two matches..😂😂#AUSvsIND #AUSvIND #INDvsAUS
— Tarun Bharadia (@TarunBharadia) December 26, 2018
Woke up in the morning feeling hungry, craving for roasted duck but sad that #KLRahul is not playing.. I can do with bread, well played #MayankAgarwal #AUSvIND #ChhodnaMat #SPNSports
— SBR (@saugat_tweets) December 26, 2018
https://twitter.com/rohithkumar_19/status/1077797240050114561
https://twitter.com/LogicalBakwaas/status/1077797097947033601
https://twitter.com/RoshanKrRai/status/1077794313218736129
https://twitter.com/lalitbhandari31/status/1077792704799494145
https://twitter.com/asif043coolguy/status/1077792232453767168
https://twitter.com/gnitin4450/status/1077783941719834624
https://twitter.com/caisdream/status/1077781187286822912
#INDvAUS#MayankAgarwal to KL Rahul & M Vijay after making 76 – pic.twitter.com/jwtwn6khWW
— Rahul Tyagi (@rahulastic) December 26, 2018
