XtraTime Web Desk: India’s new Test opener Rohit Sharma & Mayank Agarwal have created a new record at Vizag in the first Test. The two has broken a 15-year-old record of highest opening partnership for India in Test matches against South Africa which was held by Virender Sehwag & Gautam Gambhir.
Mayank Agarwal and Rohit Sharma went past 218 — the tally achieved by Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir in Kanpur in 2004-05 season — in the morning session of Day 2 of the ongoing 1st Test in Visakhapatnam.
Notably, Rohit and Mayank have also set a new record for the highest opening stand in India vs South Africa Tests previously held by AC Hudson and Gary Kirsten in 1996. The India duo broke the 22-year-old record when the opening stand went past 236 runs on Thursday.
Rohit and Mayank carried on and took their opening stand past the 300-run mark. They have become only the third Indian opening pair after Vinoo Mankad and Pankaj Roy and Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag to post 300-plus stand for the 1st wicket in Tests. This was also only the 14th instance in Test cricket that an oipening pair has posted more than 300 runs.
Rohit Sharma completed his fourth Test hundred and his first as opener on Wednesday, punishing the South Africa bowlers with an array of eye-catching strokes. India made the gamble to promote Rohit to the top of the batting order after consistent failures from the likes of KL Rahul, Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan in Tests over the last 24 months.
In fact, Rohit Sharma and Mayank Agarwal became India’s 9th different opening pair since July 2017. India, it seems, have finally found success, considering the dominant fashion in which Mayank and Rohit have gone about their business in the ongoing Test against South Africa.