Mayank Agarwal: Letting go fear of failure made me hungrier

Mayank Agarwal en route his 243-run knock on the second day of the first Test against Bangladesh in Indore yesterday. Pic/PTI

Indore: India opener Mayank Agarwal on Friday said overcoming fear of failure has made him hungrier for runs as he smashed his career-best second double hundred in the opening Test against Bangladesh here. On Day Two of the opening Test, Mayank scored his third Test hundred, a 243 off 330 balls, which formed the cornerstone of India's 493 for six against Bangladesh.

"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," he said after his career-best innings gave India a 343-run lead against Bangladesh. "There have been times when I haven't got runs. Everytime I am set, I try to convert it into a big score."

Friday solely belonged to Agarwal, who in this particular innings, managed to overshadow a batting line-up that has Rohit Sharma (6), Cheteshwar Pujara (54 off 72 balls), skipper Virat Kohli (0) and Ajinkya Rahane (86 off 172 balls) in its ranks.

Mayank added 91 for the second wicket with Pujara before sharing a 190-run stand for the fourth wicket with Rahane and a whirlwind 123 in just 23.5 overs with Ravindra Jadeja for the fifth wicket. Talking about his partnerships, Mayank said: "It is about playing one ball at a time and keep batting as long as possible. He's [Rahane] a senior pro, he's played a lot of Tests 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. 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, the way we are going, we are in the driver's seat and will try to put them under a lot of pressure."

On a pitch, where someone with express pace and variation was needed, the visitors fielded two specialist spinners in left-arm orthodox Taijul Islam (0-120 in 28 overs) and off-spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraj (1-115 in 27 overs). The spin duo was like lambs for slaughter as Agarwal went after them with all his might.

Brief scores
Bangladesh 150 v India 493-6 (M Agarwal 243, A Rahane 86, R Jadeja 60', C Pujara 54; A Jayed 4-108)

Live on tv
India v B'desh, 1st Test: Star Sports 1 & 1HD, 09.30

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