Mayank Agarwal had a great comeback after missing the Test series against England due to injury, thanks to some helpful advice from batting veteran Sunil Gavaskar and encouraging comments from Indian team head coach Rahul Dravid.
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On the opening day of the second and final Test against New Zealand on Friday, Agarwal, who sustained a concussion after he was struck by a Mohammed Siraj delivery at nets during the England trip and missed the entire series, scored 120 not out to help India reach 221/4.
"He (Gavaskar) instructed me that towards the beginning of my innings, I should keep the bat low." I have a tendency to keep my head held high. I couldn't make that change in such a short amount of time. "I noted his shoulder posture as he was saying that and essentially picked up on the fact that I need to be more side-on," Agarwal remarked in the post-match virtual news conference on Friday.
Coach Rahul Dravid, who took over as coach just before the start of this series, contacted the opener after he was selected for the Tests against New Zealand and told him to focus on the things he could control and make the most of his opportunity.
The Bangalore-born batsman said it was a conscious attempt on his part to take on New Zealand left-arm spinner Ajaz Patel, who ended India's march with a four-wicket haul for 73 runs, including a three-wicket burst off 10 deliveries just before tea.
"It was a conscious strategy." He was bowling a perfect game. When anything was in our half (our arc), though, the idea was to be a little more aggressive. We were going to aim for anything that was a bit closer to us in length. "He went through a stretch when he tied us down, so we made a deliberate choice to make it count whenever we could or whenever he bowled it in our place," Agarwal explained.
The Karnataka opener, who has two double century in Tests so far, stressed the importance of the opening session on Saturday.
"It's going to be critical; how we start is critical; that's the focus." We want to play it out in the first session, and the wicket will become more difficult to bat on "He went on to say that the pitch aided those who were giving the ball a lot of revs.
"It's a fantastic feeling to reach a century in Test cricket, and to get it in Wankhede is extra special," Agarwal remarked after completing his century with a four.”