Virat Kohli does not need us, we need him: Bumrah
Bumrah, however, stressed that Kohli knows his cricket better than anyone else and that his experience of batting in these challenging conditions was essential from the team’s perspective.
India Test opener batsman Mayank Agarwal, who scored a career-best 243 on Day 2 of the first Test against Bangladesh at the Holkar Cricket Stadium in Indore on Friday, was pushed by skipper Virat Kohli to reach his milestone as the 31-year-old signalled him from the dressing room to go for the doubleton when the opener reached the 150-run mark.
Agarwal was dropped on 32 by Imrul Kayes off Abu Jayed late on the first day and since then the Karnataka batsman never looked back and struck 28 boundaries along with 8 sixes during his 330-ball innings. Meanwhile, the 29-year-old also closed the gap on Australia’s Steve Smith who is the highest run-getter this year. Smith has 774 runs from seven innings while Agarwal has so far amassed 740 runs from 10 innings.
When Agarwal reached 150, Kohli showed his two fingers to the right-handed batsman, asking him to go for the double century. The Karnataka batsman gave a thumps up to his skipper and later did not disappoint as he hit off-spinner Mehidy Hasan for a massive six over wide long-on to reach the milestone.
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He then turned towards the dressing room, bat raised, and showed two with his fingers, meaning “job done”.
Kohli rose to his feet in adulation, and showed 300 with his fingers to further push the batsman. However, in a bid to up the ante by smashing a few more sixes, Agarwal was caught at deep mid-wicket by Abu Jayed off Mehidy.
Agarwal had earlier scored 215 on October 2 in Visakhapatnam against South Africa and followed it up with a 108 in Pune against the same opposition.
Talking about the match, India declared their innings at 493 for 6 after a healthy lead of 343 runs. Bangladesh, who got all out for 150 in their first innings, have a big task ahead.
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