India opener Mayank Agarwal was hit by a bouncer on the helmet off South Africa’s Anrich Nortje’s screamer on Day 1 of the second Test in Pune on Thursday.
Winning the toss in his 50th Test match as captain, Virat Kohli opted to bat first. After Rohit Sharma departed early in the innings, Mayank and Cheteshwar Pujara steadied the ship for the hosts, who were once struggling to face the Proteas pacers. They both added 138 runs for the second wicket before Pujara (58) edged a Kagiso Rabada delivery to Faf du Plessis at first slip.
Debutant Nortje hits Mayank Agarwal
During the 11th over of India’s first innings, Anrich Nortje, who was making his Test debut for South Africa, hit Mayank Agarwal on the helmet. The impact of the ball was such that it bounced off Mayank’s helmet to the boundary behind the stumps on the leg side.
The Indian team’s support staff immediately rushed on to the field to check on 28-year-old Karnataka batsman, and he was cleared after his helmet was examined for any damage.
However, Mayank punched the next delivery to the boundary, making his comeback from the bouncer scare in style.
Here’s the video:
— Kumar Sourav (@AdamDhoni1) October 10, 2019
