IND vs AUS 3rd Test, Tea: Mayank Agarwal misses maiden Test century by 24 runs

Agarwal kept the scoreboard ticking after a watchful initial period, reaching his maiden Test half-century off 95 balls

Mayank Agarwal, one of India’s makeshift openers, missed the opportunity to score a century on his debut, losing his wicket to Pat Cummins on 76 at the stroke of Tea on the opening day of the third match against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).

Post lunch, India added 66 runs in the second session as both batsmen looked to play with more positive intent. 

India did not put many runs on the board, taking tea ay 123 for two, as the batsmen largely remained cautious in the first two sessions. At the break, Cheteshwar Pujara was batting at 33* while Kohli was scheduled to join him in the third session.

Australia concentrated on keeping runs at a minimum, with Nathan Lyon (0/39) in particular, bowling to a predominantly leg-side field. But Agarwal kept the scoreboard ticking after a watchful initial period, reaching his maiden Test half-century off 95 balls. Overall, he became the seventh Indian batsman to score a half-century on Test debut.

He added 83 runs for the second wicket with Cheteshwar Pujara but before he could turn his debut outing memorable, he fell just before the tea break. He was caught down the leg side off Pat Cummins, who had earlier dismissed make-shift opener Hanuma Vihari in the opening session.

Earlier, India won the toss and opted to bat on a docile pitch, putting its sixth opening pairing in 2018, and fifth in 11 overseas Tests this year.

But it proved effective as Vihari and Agarwal put on 40 runs after batting out 18.5 overs, India's longest opening stand in terms of balls faced in Test cricket across Australia, New Zealand, England and South Africa since December 2010 when Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir had batted out 29.3 overs against the Proteas at Centurion.

The pitch turned out to be a batting beauty as there was good bounce and carry for the batsmen. The Australian pacers had to bend their back to get the Kookaburra ball to rise sharply.

Vihari took 25 balls and 33 minutes to score his first run as he batted with patience, which was lacking in previous opening partnerships in the first two Tests.

Cummins got him off a sharp rising delivery in the 19th over, as Vihari took his eyes off the ball and gloved it to Aaron Finch in the slip region. The Australian pacers continued to test the Indian batsmen with sharp bouncers at every opportunity possible.