IND vs SA: Sanjay Bangar reckons Mayank Agarwal will be included for South Africa tour

Former Indian batting coach Sanjay Bangar feels that Mayank Agarwal with his performance has sealed his spot as India's reserve opener for the upcoming Test series against South Africa. The Indian opener scored 150 runs in India's first innings and followed that up with a 62 in the second innings of the ongoing Test against New Zealand in Mumbai. 

On the Star Sports show, Sanjay Bangar was asked if he thinks Mayank Agarwal has confirmed his place in the IND vs SA tour as team India's third opener behind Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul. "He should be certain. We hope that India has such an opener in the reserves who has found back his concentration and focus outside off stump. He is anyway an expert against the spinners and scores big runs," he said. 

He further added that the player has the ability to score the big runs upfront and lay the foundation for the team. "It is a thing of temperament because if a player can play a long innings and if he is at the top of your order, he can create a good foundation for your team to post a big score in the first innings."

India vs South Africa: Hope he will get chances like this going forward

Sanjay Bangar also said that the player batted really well and hoped that he gets more changes going forward. "His fitness was also tested because he batted all three days and the gap between India's two innings was only 28 overs, so he did not get much time and because of that, he went to the physio repeatedly. But it was a special Test match for him and the hope is that he will get chances like this going forward as well."

He also said that Mayank was quite unlucky in not getting a chance in England after having picked up an injury. "He is a player who would have opened for you in England as well because KL Rahul was the designated middle-order batsman. He was unfortunately hit on the head while batting in the nets and because of that, he had to miss the Test match and then he did not get an opportunity at all because KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma batted fantastically well."

With the IND vs SA tour slightly delayed, the squad hasn't been announced yet but is soon expected. The rejigged India vs South Africa tour will see the two teams play 3 Tests and 3 ODIs. 

Image: AP