India vs Bangladesh 2019: Sunil Gavaskar heaps praise on double centurion Mayank Agarwal
What's the story?
Former Indian opener Sunil Gavaskar has expressed his appreciation for India’s new star Mayank Agarwal, who has scored two double hundreds already in his brief Test career. Gavaskar said that the Karnataka-born batsman is enjoying his batting right now, which is helping him succeed on the pitch.
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The background
Agarwal made his Test debut for India in the Boxing Day match against Australia. The 28-year-old batsman showed no nerves at all as he played a fantastic knock of 76 in the first innings.
In the very next match Agarwal registered another great innings, this time accumulating 77 precious runs. Though he had a quiet series in the Caribbean, the team management allowed him to continue as the Test opener for the home season.
Agarwal repaid the faith of the selectors by slamming a double century in his first Test innings at home. He struck 215 runs against South Africa, which helped India win the opening Test.
Agarwal scored one more hundred in the series and then backed it up with yet another double century against Bangladesh. Playing at the Holkar Stadium in Indore, the right-handed batsman scored 243 runs off 330 balls to guide the Indian team to an innings win.
The heart of the matter
Expressing his views during the post-match show on Star Sports, Gavaskar said that Agarwal is doing well in Test cricket but that he needs to concentrate more on his game from now on as all the opposition teams will start studying his strengths and weaknesses.
Gavaskar was quoted as follows :
“He is enjoying Test cricket. This is his first year and hopefully he keeps scoring on the second year also because in the second season there is a lot more data available of you to the opposition. But he has been batting beautifully.”
He further talked about his sound technique and added:
“The way he balances himself without falling on the offside as he plays so straight, and his movement off the front and back foot has been fantastic - making him the man in form who is full of confidence.”
What's next?
Agarwal will be in action playing for India in the day-night Test match against Bangladesh starting from 22 November. It will be intriguing to see if he is able to maintain his consistency even against the pink ball.