As another season of the IPL wraps up, there are plenty of positives to look back on. The return to form of India's spin duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav, the splendid comeback of Dinesh Karthik and the excellent leadership of Hardik Pandya, who in his first season as captain, led debutants Gujarat Titans to the IPL 2022 win.
However, where there are hits, misses galore too. This year wasn't the greatest for Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, who couldn't quite set the IPL on fire. KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan had a season to remember, while Mayank Agarwal would want to forget this year as not only did Punjab Kings fail to qualify for the Playoffs, the batter's own form was pretty underwhelming. In 13 matches, Agarwal scored just 196 runs with a solo half-century, leaving Harbhajan Singh 'shocked'. The former India spinner feels Agarwal looked restricted and trapped with his captaincy and said this wasn't the Mayank the world has come to know of.
"Mayank… I think if we talk about Agarwal, I thought to myself 'What has happened to him? He is such a good player. After getting captaincy, I think it put pressure on him. From opening he went down to No. 4. He kept soaking everything. He looked suffocated. He should have been given freedom. He was under the radar and surely could have been a little better," Harbhajan told SportsKeeda when asked to pick the 'most shocking moment' of IPL 2022.
{{/usCountry}}"Mayank… I think if we talk about Agarwal, I thought to myself 'What has happened to him? He is such a good player. After getting captaincy, I think it put pressure on him. From opening he went down to No. 4. He kept soaking everything. He looked suffocated. He should have been given freedom. He was under the radar and surely could have been a little better," Harbhajan told SportsKeeda when asked to pick the 'most shocking moment' of IPL 2022.
{{/usCountry}}Harbhajan picked Royal Challengers Bangalore spinner Wanindu Hasaranga as the surprise package of the tournament. Hasaranga played all matches and finished with 26 wickets, one strike short of Purple Cap winner Yuzvendra Chahal.
"Wanindu Hasaranga became a match-winner after coming here. He was always a good bowler, we knew he was going to do well. But for me, he was the surprise package because the way he foxed the batters, he showed that he has the skills to succeed. It was fun to see him operate," pointed out Harbhajan.