Indian skipper Virat Kohli spoke glowingly of the trio of Mayank Agarwal, Mohammed Siraj and Axar Patel as they made great impact in the 1-0 Test series win over New Zealand and strengthened their cases with the difficult tour of South Africa coming.
Opening batter Agarwal, who had fallen in the pecking order to KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma and potentially even young Shubman Gill, was under great pressure to deliver the goods in the second Test in Mumbai. After being dropped in Australia last year, the Kanpur Test was Agarwal’s comeback game, and he failed in both innings, scoring 13 & 17.
Come Mumbai, however, the aggressive opener scored an exceptional hundred in the first-innings and backed it up with a quickfire fifty. His knocks of 150 and 62 showcased not only his amazing ability to counter spin bowling on a challenging surface but also his excellent temperament.
“Great application from Mayank. To play at this level for a long period of time, you need resilience, and you need character. And he has certainly shown that. We have all gone through these processes where we have had to make that impact performance at a very crucial stage, and he has done that.”
“More than just feeling easy about himself as a batsman or as an individual, I think what this will do is build his character and help him be consistent for India moving forward.”
Kohli was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo from the post-match press briefing on December 6.
With the return of Rohit and Rahul imminent and Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane under extreme pressure to retain their spots, Agarwal has given the Indian selectors and captain Kohli greater headache about their playing XI for the series opener in South Africa.
Virat was also impressed with the way young, promising speedster Siraj ran in for a terrific opening burst on Day 2 of the Wankhede Test, generating great pace and movement and taking three wickets to push his team to a huge victory. Siraj, who made an encouraging debut in Australia, has now picked up 33 wickets at 27.69 in his first 10 Tests for India.
“He is certainly someone who has a lot of skill and talent. You can see the way he bowls and puts in effort every spell that he bowls. It feels like he can pick you a couple of wickets every spell. That is a great boost for the team.”
“Especially in difficult or challenging situations where there is a partnership there and wickets are not falling. You can rely on a guy like that to bowl three-four rapid overs and make something happen from the pitch.”
said Kohli.
Another cricketer that the Indian captain singled out for rich praise is left-arm Axar, whose rise in Test cricket continues. After dominating the Englishmen earlier in the year, he went on to do so against the Kiwis as well.
He now has a whopping 36 wickets in his first five Tests at an average of just 11.86. In the series against New Zealand, especially the Wankhede Test, Axar also displayed his batting abilities, playing crucial knocks of 52 and 41*.
“Axar is an all-round cricketer. His skillsets provide good balance to any team he plays for,”
said Kohli, who lauded how swiftly Axar manages to adjust his game from T20Is to Test matches and hoped that the cricketer will continue to maintain good “fitness levels” so that he can play for a long time.
