It was a topsy-turvy ride for India at the start of the day losing Cheteshwar Pujara and skipper Virat Kohli almost successively. But Mayank Agarwal and Ajinkya Rahane carved out a valiant partnership, followed by a neat fifty from Ravindra Jadeja and an entertaining 10-ball 25 from Umesh Yadav helped India dominate through the remaining part of the day. However, the star of the match was Mayank who not just scored his second career double-century, but also amassed his highest individual score of 243. Following his knock, Mayank revealed the change in mindset in 2016 that helped him grow as a cricketer.
"In terms of mindset, the fear of failure and letting go of it helped me change a lot. After that, I got hungry for runs. There have been times where I haven't gotten runs. Every time I get set, I try to make it a point to convert into a big score," said Mayank at the end of day's play.
Mayank made his Test debut against Australia in Melbourne last December where he had scored 76 on his debut. He has amassed 858 runs since then, in 12 innings at 71.50 with three centuries and as many half-centuries and is the highest run-getter in the time frame.
"Playing my first game at Melbourne was something special and having contributed to the team's win and India winning the series down under for the first time was a top feeling. That's the feeling that wants me to keep going and everybody else to go out there and win tournaments for the team. It is about playing one ball at a time and keep batting as long as possible," added Mayank.
On Friday, India lost Pujara shortly after his fifty while Indore went silent a few minutes later when Kohli was dismissed for a duck. Rahane and Mayank then stitched a 190-run stand to help India bounce back en route to which the former scored 86.
"He's (Ajinkya Rahane) a senior pro, he's played a lot of Test cricket and kept guiding me throughout. The plan was to get a small partnership and take our time. Be cautious, then it was about building it more and more," said Mayank.
"I back myself and was watching the ball well and picking it. There is bounce on this wicket and there is full value for shots. I went after anything I felt that was in my arc. We haven't talked about it yet (declaration), the way we are going, we are in the driver's set and will try to put them under a lot of pressure," he concluded.
