India opener Mayank Agarwal didn’t have the desired homecoming as he was run out for just 4 runs off 7 balls in his first Test at his home ground in Bangalore against Sri Lanka. The second Test of the series, a Day-Night contest, started on Saturday with Rohit Sharma winning the toss and electing to bat first.
Agarwal started off with a superb cover drive off Suranga Lakmal in the first over. However, in the second over, bowled by Vishwa Fernando, he was sent back, not much of Sri Lanka’s doing though.
A length ball from Fernando that Agarwal edged onto his pads got the Sri Lankan appealing for lbw. Umpire Anil Chaudhary didn’t react with Agarwal showing his bat, indicating that he had edged it.
But looking at the ball rolling on the vacant cover region, Agarwal set off for a quick single; skipper Rohit Sharma too responded by taking a couple of steps outside but denied it seeing Jayawickrama sprinting from point. Agarwal was three-fourth down the pitch when the fielder picked up the ball and lobbed to wicket-keeper Niroshan Dickwella.
Agarwal had given up by then. However, bizarrely, Dickwella first signalled for the review to the umpire before dislodging the bails. Thankfully, for Sri Lanka skipper Dimuth Karunaratne didn’t follow Dickwella in taking the review in haste as other wise had Karunaratne signalled for the lbw review before Dickwella had dislodged the bails, then the ball would have been dead, and Agarwal would have been not out, not only he had edged the ball but also it was a no-ball – but the run-out stood.
Confusion took over as even the usually calm Rohit Sharma was seen annoyed with the run-out. Agarwal walked back in disappointment upon missing a chance to make his homecoming memorable.
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— Maqbool (@im_maqbool) March 12, 2022
