IND vs NZ | Punishing good deliveries was the hallmark of Mayank Agarwal's innings, says Sachin Tendulkar

12/04/2021

Sachin Tendulkar lavished praise on Mayank Agarwal, and has stated that punishing good deliveries was the hallmark of the Indian opener’s 150-run innings against New Zealand in the second Test in Mumbai. Tendulkar also lauded Shreyas Iyer for his knocks of 105 and 65 in his debut Test in Kanpur.

After the first Test of the two-match series ended in a draw, India have started solidly in the second Test against New Zealand in Mumbai. After Virat Kohli opted to bat, Mayank Agarwal and Shubman Gill started off well for the hosts, and stitched a crucial 80-run stand for the first wicket. Gill, who scored 52 and 1 against New Zealand in the first Test in Kanpur, followed it up with a 44 in Mumbai before falling to Ajaz Patel, who finished with a historic 10/119.

However, Mayank Agarwal stood solid at one end, and notched up his fourth Test hundred. The right-handed batsman scored 150 off 371 balls, which included 17 boundaries, and four maximums. The stellar batting performance from the Indian opener guided the hosts to a first innings total of 325.

Reflecting on Agarwal’s century, Sachin Tendulkar stated that punishing good deliveries was the hallmark of the Indian opener’s innings.

“There was moisture beneath the surface. Mayank took some time to get into the groove and once he was in the groove, he capitalised by putting pressure on spinners. The hallmark of Mayank's innings was that he was able to punish good deliveries too. When a bowler knows a batter can punish your good deliveries, then there is an element of doubt in him, “ Tendulkar told PTI.

"What if the batter steps out and hits you and all those things go in bowler's head and disturb his rhythm."

Tendulkar further lauded Shreyas Iyer for his brilliant batting performance in the Kanpur Test, saying that the middle-order batsman made most of the opportunities he's got.

"I thought Shreyas was fantastic and made most of the opportunities he got, at one stage the scoreboard wasn't looking that good and he came up with a gem of an innings and resulted in India almost winning the Test. Both his knocks were important," he said.

"I am sure anxiety levels were there but it helped that he had made his T20 debut quite some time ago and these kinds of things ease up your pressure and it allows you to play your natural game.

"Early on, he must have felt nerves and once he connected, he must have felt more confident."