Kerry O'Keeffe apologizes for controversial remarks on Mayank Agarwal and Ranji Trophy

What's the story?

Australian commentator Kerry O'Keeffe, who insulted Indian opener Mayank Agarwal and the country's premier domestic tournament, the Ranji Trophy, has finally apologized for his controversial remarks while on air during the first day's play of the Boxing Day Test match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

The Background

Mayank Agarwal, who came into the Indian squad as a replacement for the injured Prithvi Shaw, made his Test debut a memorable one by scoring a splendid 76 off 161 balls. Mayank's innings at the top has undoubtedly set the tone for India's middle-order batsmen to capitalise. After the failures of KL Rahul and Murali Vijay, India has finally found an able option for the opening slot in the form of Mayank.

In spite of his excellent show with the bat in the domestic circuit as well on his Test debut, the youngster was targetted by Aussie commentator Kerry O'Keeffe, who claimed that Agarwal might have scored his triple century against 'some canteen staff or waiters,' referring to the Indian domestic bowlers.

He was subsequently slammed by Indian fans on social media for his controversial statement which made headlines on Day One of the third Test match.

The heart of the matter

Kerry later apologized for his controversial remarks, saying, "I was mentioning the runs Agarwal got in first-class cricket in India and there's been a reaction. There was no way I was demeaning the standard, it was tongue in cheek. There are lots of runs scored so apologies if anyone out there took offense".

Maybe the reaction of the fans, as well as several cricket pundits across the globe, made O'Keeffe apologize for his remarks.

What's next?

At the end of the first day's play, India hold the upper hand in this Test match having scored 215 runs for the loss of just two wickets. With skipper Virat Kohli (47 off 107 balls) and Cheteshwar Pujara (68 off 200 balls) looking well settled at the crease, it is not going to be easy for the Aussie bowlers to restrict the Indians to a modest total.