‘My money could be docked’ - Mayank Agarwal distances himself from answering the question on his dismissal in the Boxing Day Test

India would not have hoped for a better start than it got in the Boxing Day Test against South Africa. After winning the toss, Virat Kohli decided to bat, which raised some eyebrows because of overcast conditions, and the pitch also had grass. Kohli also became the captain to win the most number of tosses for India in Test cricket.

The duo of KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal opened the innings for India. They assessed the pitch before playing their shots. Rahul waited for a bad ball to score his runs. But, Mayank was hitting every ball that was in his zone. In the 18th over, South Africa had a chance to dismiss Mayank, but Quinton de Kock dropped the catch.

Rahul and Mayank added 117 runs for the first wicket and joined the elite group of Indian openers to muster a 100-run partnership in South Africa. Mayank’s innings came to an end in the 41st over as Lungi Ngidi managed to trap him in front of the stumps. The replays did show that the ball hit the top of the leg stump, but it also looked like it was going down the leg side.

Not many experts agreed with the ball tracking on the dismissal. When Mayank was asked about his view on the dismissal during the press conference after the day’s play, he decided not to answer it and also came up with a humorous response. He said: “I am not allowed to give my opinion and so I want to leave it at that. Otherwise, I will be in bad books and my money (match fee) could be docked.”

KL Rahul continued his show even after Mayank Agarwal was dismissed

Cheteshwar Pujara, who came out to bat after Mayank’s dismissal, scored a golden duck. Kohli and Rahul added 82 runs for the fourth wicket. Kohli looked pretty set in the middle but lost his wicket after he went on to chase a ball outside the off-stump.

Rahul was joined by Ajinkya Rahane in the middle and the duo made sure to end the day on a high. Rahul completed his century in the 78th over and became only the second Indian opener to achieve this feat. At the end of the day, India had put 272 runs for the loss of three wickets on the board. Rahul remained not out on 122, while Rahane made 40 runs.