Mayank Agarwal became only the second Indian opener after Virender Sehwag (2010) to score hundreds in consecutive Tests against South Africa.
The 28-year-old followed up his innings of 215 in the first innings of the first Test at Visakhapatnam with yet another splendid knock of 108 runs off just 195 deliveries on Day 1 of the ongoing second Test at Pune.
Starting off with opening partner Rohit Sharma, Agarwal shared a 25-run stand with him before the former was out caught behind off Kagiso Rabada’s bowling. Agarwal then shared a 138-run stand for the second wicket with Cheteshwar Pujara.
This was also the first 100-run stand for any wicket for India in the two Tests played at this venue. The previous best was 50 by Lokesh Rahul and Ajinkya Rahane against Australia in 2016-17.
Agarwal went on to share another 35-run stand with skipper Virat Kohli for the fourth wicket before he was out caught by Faf du Plessis off Kagiso Rabada’s bowling.
The right-handed batsman now has 605 runs in just six Tests at an excellent average of 60.50. These runs include two centuries and three scores of fifty-plus in just 10 innings.
Interestingly, 536 of these runs have come in the first team innings for Mayank at an outstanding average of 89.33 whereas only 69 runs constitute his second team innings runs at a dismal average of 17.25.