Rohit Sharma and Mayank Agarwal on Thursday became only the third Indian opening pair to share a 300-run partnership in the history of Test cricket.
Rohit and Agarwal achieved the feat with a stand of 317 runs in the ongoing the first Test against South Africa in Visakhapatnam.
Rohit, who made his debut as a Test opener in this match, was dismissed after scoring 176, while Agarwal scored his maiden Test hundred.
Besides Rohit and Agarwal, other Indian opening pairs to share a 300-plus partnership in Test cricket are Vinoo Mankad and Pankaj Roy (413 runs against New Zealand in 1956) and Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravid (410 runs against Pakistan in 2006).
- It took the 28-year-old Agarwal, who made his debut against Australia in Melbourne in December 2018, eight innings to register his maiden Test century. He also became the 86th Indian batsman to score a hundred in Test cricket.
- Agarwal now has the third-highest score by an Indian to score a maiden Test century, behind Karun Nair and Vinod Kambli. The other Indian to convert a maiden Test century into a double was Dileep Sardesai.
- Agarwal ended a 10-year wait for Indian fans to see an opener score a double ton. The last man to do so was none other than Virender Sehwag when he scored a stunning 293 against Sri Lanka.
2009 - Mayank Agarwal is the first India batsman to score a double century as an opener in Test cricket since December 2009 (Sehwag 293 v Sri Lanka). Stint. #INDvSA pic.twitter.com/7nrqsY2R7E
— OptaJim (@OptaJim) October 3, 2019
- Agarwal’s first double ton took eight innings to arrive. He is the third quickest to do so among Indians, behind Karun Nair and Vinod Kambli. Sunil Gavaskar also took eight innings.
- Here are some more records broken by Agarwal and Sharma:
200 in batsmen's very first Test innings on Indian soil
— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) October 3, 2019
210 - Dean Jones
215 - Mayank Jones #IndvSA #IndvSA
Mayank Agarwal and Rohit Sharma pair in the 1st inning:
— Sampath Bandarupalli (@SampathStats) October 3, 2019
- 3rd highest aggregate by Indian openers in a Test inning [391 runs]
- 2nd most balls faced by Indian openers in a Test inning [615 balls]
- Most sixes hit by an opening pair in a Test inning [12 sixes]#INDvSA
Highest contribution to an Indian Test total by its openers:
— Ric Finlay (@RicFinlay) October 3, 2019
404 MMankad (231) and PRoy (173), Chennai, 1956
392 WJaffar (73) and VSehwag (319), Chennai, 2008
391 MAgarwal (215) and RSharma (176), Visak., 2019
Most sixes by openers in a Test inngs
— Deepu Narayanan (@deeputalks) October 3, 2019
12 R Sharma (6) - M Agarwal (6) v SA Vizag 2019/20
11 M Hayden (11) - J Langer v Zim WACA 2003/04
11 B McCullum (11) - T Latham v Pak Sharjah 2014/15#INDvSA
Brilliant 2⃣0⃣0⃣ by Mayank!
— Victor Tarapore (@VictorTarapore) October 3, 2019
- 19th Test 200 by an 🇮🇳 opener (1st since Sehwag in 2009)
- 1st Test 200 by an opener in 2019 (1st v SA since 2008 by V Sehwag)
- Last Test 200 by an opener in IND: B McCullum at HYD in 2010#MakeStatsGreatAgain #INDvSA #Mayank #SAvIND
Highest individual scores for #INDvSA in Tests:
— Umang Pabari (@UPStatsman) October 3, 2019
319 - V Sehwag, Chennai, 2008
215 - M Agarwal, Vizag, 2019*
176 - R Sharma, Vizag, 2019*
169 - S Tendulkar, Cape Town, 1997
(With PTI inputs)