After spending some time at the crease in Melbourne, my journey had started: Mayank Agarwal

India tour of Australia witnessed the likes of Mayank Agarwal and Hanuma Vihari come through the ranks in tough situations. Both of them were thrown in the spotlight to face one of the best bowling attacks in the world at the iconic MCG on the Boxing Day and they came out unscathed. While Vihari blunted the new cherry with utter patience, his partner got off the blocks very quickly to score an enterprising half-century on debut.

Agarwal scored 70-odd runs in his first outing to prove that he belongs to this level and then was the highest run-scorer in the second innings when India slumped and declared on 106/8. Even in Sydney, the opening batsman was at his best playing aggressive strokes and got the team off to a great start despite losing KL Rahul early.

Mayank Agarwal though believes that batting first helped at the MCG helped him relieve all the butterflies which he had in his stomach very quickly.

Didn’t have time to think

“I was very excited when I got the cap and I was looking forward to getting on the field and start playing. Wanted to get into the thick of things and get cracking. It helped in many ways that we batted first because I was into the action and did not have enough time to think about other things. Had to be switched on from the word go, and it was nice I believe,” he said while speaking to Hindustan Times.

Agarwal also recalled how he was welcomed in the dressing room and the backing which he received from everyone on his debut. He credited the team for his exceptional performance at the ‘G’.

“Everyone was very warm, they welcomed me. Every person in the dressing room ensured that I was comfortable and ready to go and give my best. They backed me, asked me to believe in myself so that I can go and give my best on the field. From Sanjay Bangar sir to Ravi sir, to Virat, everybody,” the Indian opener added.

About his maiden innings

Talking about his first outing at the iconic venue, Mayank Agarwal admitted of being nervous as it was the Boxing Day and the MCG was almost packed with the crowd cheering. However, he felt at home after playing a few overs.

“When I played a few balls and middled a few balls and spent a couple of overs there, the nerves started to ease. Also, I had a plan and whenever the mind started wavering around, I reminded myself to stick to the plan. Once the nerves eased, I was playing the ball on its merit and you know, just batting. The journey had started,” he further said.

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