It seems to be a good week for the Agarwals, first Parag and now Mayank. As the Twitter CEO, Parag will pocket USD 1 million per annum along with perks. Meanwhile, Punjab Kings (PBKS) named Mayank as their first retention for IPL 2022, for about USD 1.6 million per season. Agarwal also has a Grade B Team India contract.
Batting at 120, Mayank Agarwal can make the week even bigger. After all, two of his previous three Test centuries were double hundreds, and none came on a surface as difficult as the Wankhede track.
Success and failures are a part of an athlete’s career. But Agarwal has been far from being lucky.
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Agarwal had smashed 1,000 First-Class runs in the month of November 2017. A year later, he debuted in the 2018 Boxing Day Test at the MCG. Another year and 13 Test innings later, he averaged 67.1, with three centuries (including two doubles) and three fifties.
Another year passed. He played in the infamous Adelaide pink-ball Test, where India were bowled out for 36. He then failed in Melbourne and found himself out for Sydney. It took Agarwal only four failed innings against arguably the finest bowling attack in recent times to lose his place. He was still averaging 48.
Before that, he averaged only 25.5 in New Zealand in 2020/21 – but still top-scored for India in their 0-2 defeat.
When the Indian squad was hit by injuries galore ahead of the Brisbane Test, Agarwal was a forced entry in the middle-order. He played a crucial hand in the first innings and again found himself out for the following five Test matches. He was expected to return in England when a freak head injury ruled him out. His close friend K.L. Rahul grabbed the chance with both hands.
Had Rahul and Rohit Sharma played in Kanpur, Agarwal would have been warming the bench, or been in South Africa with India A. He failed in Kanpur.
There was a buzz that Agarwal would make way for Virat Kohli for the Mumbai Test match. The team management’s reluctance to look beyond Ajinkya Rahane meant the axe loomed over Agarwal before a hamstring injury to the Indian vice-captain came to his rescue.
Rahul Dravid asked him to control what was in his hand.
“When I was picked, Rahul-bhai spoke to me. He asked me to control what is in my hands and said, ‘go out there and give it your best’. He had told me, ‘When you get set, make it big’. I am happy to have capitalised on the start that I had. But that message was very clear from Rahul bhai, that I should make it count,” said Agarwal after a defiant 120 not out, arguably the best hundred of his career.
He indeed controlled it well on a Wankhede track that spun and bounced from the first day, where the Mumbai-born Ajaz Patel spun a web the other batters, squaring them up at will.
You cannot help but recall the 2004/05 Test match against Australia at the same venue, where the track was covered for long due to unusual winter rains. The left-arm spinners – Murali Karthik and Michael Clarke – then left the batters in a soup. Now the head coach, Dravid, led India in that Test win.
Kohli did win a rare toss here. India expectedly batted and started well. But Ajaz Patel sent back Shubman Gill (44), Cheteshwar Pujara (0) and Kohli (0) in a span of 15 balls, and from 80/0, India slipped to 80/3. It was a critical time, and Agarwal took the conscious decision to attack Ajaz.
After Kohli fell to a controversial decision, Ajaz’s figures read 12-7-14-3. He ended the day with 29-10-73-4, courtesy Agarwal’s counterattack.
The authority with which he danced down the wicket to Ajaz demonstrated his strength against quality spin bowling. With Rahane and Pujara's prolonged lean patch, can Agarwal be the middle-order option that Gill had been eyeing since the return of Rohit and Rahul?
Shreyas Iyer fell to Ajaz for 18. Agarwal had dominated the 80-run stand comfortably.
Just like Agarwal, Wriddhiman Saha would not have played had Rishabh Pant was available for the series. Saha then picked up a neck injury that prevented him from keeping wickets for a significant part in Kanpur. Here, he followed up his gritty fifty on the Day 4 Kanpur track with a controlled outing with Agarwal that witnessed an array of gorgeous strokes across the ground.
Both men should look to eye on capitalising on the unbeaten stand of 61, further cementing their cases in the Indian line-up. With no Ravindra Jadeja, Saha’s contribution with the bat will determine how strong India are placed on Day 2.
As for New Zealand, they will hope for Ajaz to continue running through the line-up on this turner, with some help from Will Somerville and Rachin Ravindra. There is also Tim Southee, awaiting the second new ball and the morning mist, alongside Kyle Jamieson.
A little opening and New Zealand will come back in the Test like they did in Kanpur, especially because India’s batting line-up looks thin without Jadeja, particularly because they do not have a left-hander anymore. India will not want to bat here again.
Expect an intriguing second day even if India get bowled out early. R. Ashwin, Axar Patel and comeback man Jayant Yadav will surely relish bowling on this surface.
But before that, Agarwal needs to continue with Dravid's advice and control what is in his hand. If he continues with his brilliant conversion rate, he will not only help India add precious points in the WTC table from home games but will also massively help his Test career.