Home Ind vs Aus 2018-19 From blows to records, Mayank makes it count Mayank Agarwal smashes handsome 76 in the Boxing Day Test to become the highest-scoring Indian batsman on debut in Australia. Team Sportstar 26 December, 2018 10:15 IST Mayank Agarwal is hit on the helmet by Pat Cummins at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Wednesday. - Getty Images Team Sportstar 26 December, 2018 10:15 IST Fairy tales still exist. At least, Mayank Agarwal should believe in them. The Karnataka batsman, who has been on the fringes for possibly the longest period in recent times, exploded inside a grand theatre — the Melbourne Cricket Ground — on Wednesday.On his Test debut, Mayank smashed a well-composed fifty on day one to revive India’s ‘opening’ department. He also registered the highest-score by an Indian batsman, 76, on debut in Australia.Dattu Phadkar was the only Indian cricketer who had scored a fifty (51) on debut in Australia, at the Sydney Cricket Ground, in 1947. Mayank surpassed his score at a strike-rate of 47.20.In the 1999/00 tour, Hrishikesh Kanitkar had come close to Phadkar's record, but the southpaw was dismissed for 45 in the MCG Test. READ| Where did Mayank Agarwal go wrong?After stitching a slow yet steady 40-run opening partnership with Hanuma Vihari, Mayank balanced his innings with controlled aggression. He lasted 161 balls, and the innings comprised eight fours and a six. Mayank Agarwal across three formats since last seasonFC - 1918 runs, ave 71.03, 6 100s, 7 50sList A - 1747 runs, ave 58.23, 7 100s, 6 50sT20s - 378 runs, ave 19.89, 3 50s---------Total: 4043 runs, ave 53.19, 13 100s, 16 50s#AusvInd#AusvsInd— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) December 26, 2018 K.L. Rahul and Murali Vijay — the openers sidelined for the ongoing Test — did not enjoy such a long stay in the middle.READ| Mayank Agarwal — the number man unplugged!Rahul faced 75 balls (two innings) in Adelaide, and 21 balls (two innings) in Perth — under 100. Vijay faced 75 balls (two innings) in Adelaide, and 79 balls (two innings) in Perth.Here's a list of other Indian openers who scored 50+ on Test debut.D Hussain 59 vs England, 1934 KC Ibrahim 85 vs Australia, 1948S Gavaskar 65 vs West Indies, 1971A Lal 63 vs Sri Lanka, 1982S Dhawan 187 vs Australia, 2013P Shaw 134 vs Windies, 2018 M Agarwal 76 vs Australia, 2018 Note: Phadkar was a lower-order batsman. Read more stories on Ind vs Aus 2018-19. For more updates, follow Sportstar on :