IND vs SA | It’s a good feeling to score back to back hundreds, says Mayank Agarwal

India won the toss today morning in Pune and chose to bat first on a pitch that looked perfect for batting. Although India lost in-form Rohit Sharma early in their innings, Agarwal and Cheteshwar Pujara proved their captain’s decision right by stitching a 138-run partnership. Agarwal was the pick of the Indian batsmen today as he scored a brilliant hundred which was characterised by the combination immaculate stroke-play and utmost discipline.

“Very happy that I could get back-to-back hundreds, that's a good feeling. The team is in a good position, winning the toss, batting first and with one batsman short, it's a good thing to make runs. There were periods when runs weren't coming easily, they bowled good spells, tight spells and didn't let us score,” Mayank told Harsha Bhogle at the end of day's play on the host broadcaster show. 

After a promising start to his career, Mayank seemed to have lost his way during the West Indies tour where he was only able to score 80 runs in two matches. He hailed mental discipline as the key to his recent success along with hard work. 

“Plenty of long-distance running, meditation and working on my game (on his approach towards batting), some of the things I could so, some I couldn't, it was always about mental discipline,” said the Karnataka opener when asked upon his formula to succeed. 

After India handed the Proteas a cruel reality check in Vizag, South Africa seemed to have grouped together pretty well. Although the Indian score 273-3 at the end of day one, with two batsman scoring half-centuries and another getting a ton, might not suggest so the intensity of the pacers was commendable while it was the spinners again who gave them up. The 28-year-old opener also seemed to think alike as he praised the speedsters’ effort. 

“There was some moisture on the wicket, Philander and Rabada bowled tight lines, we knew we would get beaten, needed to play tight, play the straight lines and wait for the bad balls. 450-500 should be a good score to put pressure on South Africa, don't know if we need to bat a second time,”  Mayank added before signing off.