Lucky to keep his place after the Indian team were rocked by injuries to Ajinkya Rahane, Ishant Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja, Agarwal was the rock that not only provided resistance, but also pulled the hosts out of a difficult position.

India finished Day One on 221-4 despite New Zealand’s Mumbai-born left-arm spinner Ajaz Patel (4-73) threatening to run through the hosts.

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A hit on the head in England saw Agarwal become the reserve opener after his statemate KL Rahul grabbed the opportunity in the four Tests there. However, with regular openers Rohit Sharma and Rahul not part of this series, Agarwal had four innings to prove his worth. In the Kanpur Test, he returned scores of 13 and 7, but on Friday he proved his mettle. “This innings was more about grit and determination, just to stick with the plan,” said Agarwal, who played a fire-and-ice knock. 

Solid opening stand

While Shubman Gill put his power to good use during his 44, Agarwal was circumspect during the 80-run opening stand. Then, India lost Cheteshwar Pujara (0) and captain Kohli (0) in the space of four balls. Ajaz then got Gill to poke at an away-going delivery. And then, catching Pujara off-guard with a full delivery that disrupted his furniture. Ajaz’s next victim was Kohli, who was adjudged leg-before in a controversial manner. TV replays suggested it was bat first, but the third umpire did not find any ‘conclusive evidence’ to overturn the on-field umpire’s decision. Interestingly, the video umpire made the call even before checking ball-tracking, which seemed to have irked the India skipper. The ball, however, was going on to hit the stumps.

Agarwal and last-Test centurion Shreyas Iyer (18) added 80 for the fourth wicket before Ajaz got his fourth wicket.

Brief scores
India 221-4 (M Agarwal 120', S Gill 44; A Patel 4-73) v NZ