India were 273 for three in their first innings at stumps on the opening day of the second Test against South Africa here on Thursday. Mayank Agarwal made 108, his second Test century, while Cheteshwar Pujara scored 58. At the close of play, skipper Virat Kohli (63 not out) and Ajinkya Rahane (18 not out) were the two unbeaten batsmen at the crease.
Kagiso Rabada (3/48) picked up all the three wickets for South Africa.
A happy Mayank Agarwal, said, 'Very happy that I could get back-to-back hundreds, that's a good feeling. The team is in a good position, winning the toss, batting first and with one batsman short, it's a good thing to make runs. There were periods when runs weren't coming easily, they bowled good spells, tight spells and didn't let us score. Plenty of long distance running, meditation and working on my game (on his approach towards batting), some of the things I could so, some I couldn't, it was always about mental discipline.
There was some moisture on the wicket, Philander and Rabada bowled tight lines, we knew we would get beaten, needed to play tight, play the straight lines and wait for the bad balls. 450-500 should be a good score to put pressure on South Africa, don't know if we need to bat a second time.'
