“What if 20 wickets fell on Day 1 in India” - Cricketer mocks critics as 23 wickets tumble on day 1

Indian cricketer Mayank Agarwal has responded to critics in the wake of a dramatic turn of events on the first day of the second Test between India and South Africa at Newlands, Cape Town, where a staggering 23 wickets fell on Wednesday, January 3.

Critics have often targeted Team India for spin-friendly pitches, claiming that Test matches in India rarely last beyond four or five days. Despite this, the Proteas once again opted for fast seam-friendly conditions in the second Test, mirroring the trend seen in the first game, which concluded within three days.

Agarwal, with 21 Tests under his belt, took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to express his thoughts on the situation, writing:

"What if 20 wickets fell on day 1 in India?”

The same venue, Cape Town, witnessed a similar scenario during the first Test between South Africa and Australia in November 2011 when 23 wickets fell on Day 2. Notably, since the year 2000, there have been 15 instances in Test cricket where 20 or more wickets fell in a single day, including the ongoing fixture.

India has contributed to this statistic three times, and South Africa has now joined India and Sri Lanka with three instances of 20+ wickets falling in a day. Other teams in this category include England, Sri Lanka, and New Zealand (each with two occurrences), while Zimbabwe and the West Indies have one instance each.