IND vs NZ | Sometimes even magical figure of 100 is not enough, feels Mayank Agarwal

After a glorious start to his Test career as an opener, Mayank Agarwal gears up for a brand new challenge on his endeavour to cement his place in the side which awaits him in New Zealand. After a miserable tour with India A, it will be crucial how the young lad bounces back as he dons the Indian jersey.

Agarwal, who has been solid at the top of the innings, has a unique ability to turn good starts into big scores and that's what sets him apart from the crowd. Opening up on his special ability, Agarwal shared that it's his hunger for runs which drives him to score the big hundreds.

“Long hours of batting with RX [Murali, personal coach] and understanding the fact that 100 is a magical figure but sometimes 100 is not enough. More often than not, you have to go on to score bigger runs than that and have the hunger to continue to bat long. Setting targets for yourself where you are looking at sessions or situations [such that] in a four-day game, your team doesn't have to bat twice. So things like that have really got the best out of me,” Agarwal told ESPNCricinfo.

When asked to pick his most memorable partnerships in Tests, the Karnataka lad chose the one with Cheteswar Pujara in Australia and another with Rohit Sharma at home. While the partnership with Pujara was all about grit, courage and patience, the other with Rohit lied on the other end of the spectrum filled with discoveries of their prowess with the bat.

“The partnership with [Cheteshwar] Pujara was a lot about grit, a lot about fighting when we played against Australia in Australia. The partnership with Rohit [Sharma] against South Africa, the first Test, was a lot about both of us opening for the first time in India," he added. 

"It was just about getting set, understanding home conditions, making use of home conditions and then when we got a big partnership, I think it was more like rediscovering what we can do. Because in the partnership Rohit and I were talking and I said, "I've never reverse-swept." And he said, "Neither have I." So it was discovering a few things. We weren't doing anything risky, but those shots automatically started coming out,” the 28-year-old signed off.