3 Things we learnt from Day 1 of the Boxing Day Test at Melbourne

#1 Mayank Agarwal looks the real deal

Agarwal had a debut to remember

The last time an Indian opener made his Test debut in Australia was way back in 1947-48 at Sydney. Nearly 71 years later, India decided to hand Agarwal his debut, making him only the second Indian Test opener ever to make his bow Down Under.

Agarwal has scored tons and tons of runs over the past couple of domestic seasons. On debut, the lad from Karnataka looked unfazed and displayed the solidity that had enabled him to scale such high peaks domestically.

He handled the initial threat of Starc and Hazlewood and looked equally accomplished against the spin maestro, Lyon.

Moreover, he was able to completely dominate Lyon and his ability to step down the track fiddled with the off-spinner’s normally impeccable length.

Through his performance, Agarwal brought an air of freshness to an opening slot that had been stinking of staleness.

The opener has been knocking on the Indian door for a while now and he finally broke it down at Melbourne. And if his display is any yardstick, one can expect him to don the famous Indian white jersey for years to come.

For a while, the Indian test opening future looked bleak. Yet, with the likes of Shaw and Agarwal now in the limelight, it doesn’t look that dark.

Even if India don’t go on to win the series, they would be satisfied with the fact that they threw Agarwal to the wolves and he came out leading the pack, with aplomb.