From being ignored time and again despite topping the scoring charts in domestic cricket to scoring a brilliant 76 on debut in a Boxing Day Test for India, life has indeed come a full circle for opener Mayank Agarwal. Frustration and anger is bound to creep in when you score 1160 runs in a Ranji season at an average of 105.45 and still fail to break into the national team. But then, Mayank channelised the anger to keep scoring more runs to ensure that the selectors were bound to notice his efforts and reward him with a national call-up.
The Test cap finally came in the third game of the ongoing four-match series between India and Australia Down Under and the boy from Karnataka didn’t disappoint. At a time when the Indian openers have found the going extremely tough against the likes of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins, Mayank showed the perfect mix of flair and application to become the first Indian opener to score a fifty on debut in Australia — considered one of the toughest countries to tour.
During the first innings show of brilliance, Mayank’s score of 76 is the highest by any Indian debutant in Australia. Also it is now the highest score by an Indian opener away from home. Mayank became the seventh Indian opener to score a 50 on debut. He also became the third opener this year to score a 50 on debut (Fakhar Zaman and Aaron Finch are the others). Interestingly, he is only the second Indian player after Dattu Phadkar to score a 50 on debut in Australia and only the second Indian opener after Sunil Gavaskar to score a 50 on debut away from home.
