Mayank Agarwal's 120 not out, along with important contributions from Shreyas Iyer and Wriddhiman Saha, helped India recover to 221/4 by stumps on Day 1 of the second Test match, at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. Ajaz Patel (4-73) bowled his heart out on his city of birth, but the Indians recovered well after being reduced to 80/3.
Persistent rain over last few days resulted in the entire morning session being abandoned. Early lunch was taken, and the match finally started at noon. There were a few injuries to key players for both teams. India replaced Ajinkya Rahane, Ravindra Jadeja and Ishant Sharma with Virat Kohli, Jayant Yadav and Mohammed Siraj. New Zealand, too, brought in Daryl Mitchell for the injured Kane Williamson; Tom Latham led them instead.
Mayank Agarwal and Shubman Gill started well, completing India's first 50-run opening stand of the series in the 19th over. The duo took the score to 80 and looked set for many more when Ajaz Patel got the well-set Gill for 44. In his next over, Ajaz bowled Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli for ducks.
Pujara stepped out uncharacteristically, only to be beaten in both flight and turn by a ball that pitched on leg and hit off. The LBW decision of Kohli was tight. DRS suggested that the ball might have hit the bat and pad almost at the same time. Despite many views, the third umpire Virender Sharma did not find conclusive evidence to overturn the on-field decision of out, as ruled by on-field umpire Anil Chaudhary.
India were 80/3 at this point, and it seemed that New Zealand were back in the game. But Agarwal, who had watched all this from the other end, now began to counterattack on a tricky wicket. He and Iyer added 31 in seven overs, and India went to tea at 111/3.
Runs came freely after tea as well. Agarwal was specifically severe on Will Somerville, who conceded 46 in his eight overs. The pair added 80 before Iyer became Ajaz’s fourth victim of the day, for 18. By then Agarwal had reached 85.
Promoted to six, Saha started scoring with a six. Both men batted confidently for 22 overs, and remained unbeaten at stumps. Agarwal reached his fourth Test hundred with a glorious cover drive off Mitchell, a wonderful innings on a pitch where the ball turned from Day 1.
India will look to bat for at least two sessions tomorrow. While they will miss Ravindra Jadeja, his replacement Jayant Yadav had a century last time he played a Test match on this ground.
Brief scores: India 221/4 (Mayank Agarwal 120*; Ajaz Patel 4-73) vs New Zealand.