IND vs SA | Not allowed to express my opinion on it, Mayank Agarwal refrains from talking about LBW call
Mayank Agarwal scored 60 runs in the first innings of the Centurion Test
|India opener Mayank Agarwal has refrained from commenting on his LBW dismissal on DRS in the Centurion Test saying he is not allowed to express his opinion on it and doesn't want to get his money docked. Agarwal was dismissed on a score of 60 runs by Lungi Ngidi on a delivery nipping back in.
The first Test of the series between India and South Africa commenced on Sunday and the visitors are poised at 272/3 on Day 1. KL Rahul is playing on a score of 122 runs while Ajinkya Rahane is at the crease scoring 40 runs so far.
The opening pair gave India a fine start as they scored 117 runs for the opening wicket. Mayank Agarwal scored 60 runs before a controversial decision ended his stay at the crease of a delivery from Lungi Ngidi. Agarwal was initially adjudged not out on the delivery nipping back in. Also, from naked eyes it looked like the delivery was going down the leg side and over the stumps but the ball-tracking system showed the ball was hitting the top of the leg-stump.
Also a few commentators had suggested that the ball would have missed the stumps. Reflecting on his dismissal, Agarwal refrained from commenting anything on his dismissal saying he don’t want his money to get docked.
"Well, to be honest I am not allowed to express my opinion on it and I will leave it at that unless I want to get in the bad books and get my money docked," Agarwal said, reported India Today.
Agarwal played a disciplined innings leaving deliveries on offside with confidence and pouncing on loose ones throughout the innings. He looked good in the middle during his knock of 60 runs from 123 balls. Reflecting on his innings, Agarwal credited the conversation with Rahul Dravid for it.
"Well the conversations with Rahul Dravid were about being very disciplined, he was very clear and he said that when you are playing in South Africa and other countries, you will not look very good but it is about sticking to your plan and waiting for the opportunities to score. We were thinking around those lines and I am glad that we could do well in the first session," Mayank said.
"To be honest the plan was to be very disciplined and try to play the balls that were close to the stumps. The plan was to leave as many balls as possible and I am glad that we could do just that.”
India has made a good start as they managed 272/3 on Day 1 and put themselves in a strong condition in difficult playing conditions in South Africa. The visitors will need to capitalise on a good start now as they have quality pace attack in their ranks. Summarising the day’s play Agarwal opined that the India batting unit applied themselves really well.
"To be honest, being placed at 272/3 at the end is a credit to the batting unit. We really applied ourselves really well, the talk has been that players who get set have to go on. Credit to KL Rahul for the way he has played and he has made sure that he has been part of some good partnerships," he concluded.
