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Mayank enjoys remarkable start to season as India Blue win Duleep Trophy
Agarwal has been a revelation in this Duleep Trophy. A tally of 420 runs at an average of 84 does augur well for the season.
Before the start of this season, coach RX Murali had a situation. One of his better-known wards wanted a quality that batsmen of his style passionately chase, but rarely possess. Mayank Agarwal was looking for consistency. For two previous years, he had blazed briefly, before going off in a whimper. He would race to attractive 20s and 30s, and throw it away. He had always admired Virender Sehwag for his daredevilry, now was the time to master his idol’s consistency.
Agarwal’s 417 runs from 8 innings in the last Ranji Trophy had come at an average of 52.12, and included a hundred and two fifties. However, such has been the run glut in Ranji Trophy over the years that 78 players scored more than him. He was dropped from the star-studded Karnataka team - also the defending champions - after five matches. The frustration was brewing, and Agarwal wanted more out of himself.
“We have a goal for every season. Last season, he couldn’t capitalise after good starts. We worked on his skills. We decided he should play the ball as late as possible. Also, we worked on his balance. He always had tremendous hands, so we knew if he is more balanced at the crease, he can generate more power in his shots,” Murali told HT from Marathalli near Bengaluru.
“He was obviously disappointed to be dropped from the state side. Converting starts was a challenge, and I think it was more to do with his mindset.”
Chastened by a middling season, Agarwal threw himself into a rigorous ten-hour training schedule. His day would begin with physical training, followed by a three-hour Ranji session. He would then drive over 25 kilometres to reach Murali’s academy, where the duo would plot his resurrection.
Murali and Agarwal go back a long way - the latter’s under-14 days to be precise. A young Agarwal was making waves in the city’s school cricket scene, and word went around that he could hit the ball really hard.
About ten years back, an Australia under-16 academy team arrived in Bengaluru to play three two-day games against KSCA under-16 at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. Agarwal made his mark with centuries in all three matches. “What I noticed first in him was his timing, which was too good for his age. Whenever he played, he scored runs. In fact, we had to pull him out in the third game to give others a chance,” Murali remembers.
In 2010, he made it to the India under-19 team for the World Cup in New Zealand, and in a side that also had a certain KL Rahul, Agarwal emerged as his country’s leading run-scorer. Six years hence, Rahul has already played 8 Tests for India, and has become just the second man in the country to score centuries in each format. Incidentally, it was Rahul’s twin hundreds in the 2014-15 Duleep final that earned him a spot in the Test side.
The same period has also seen Agarwal blossom into a free-stroking opener. From the start of 2014 to mid-2015, he was the only batsman in the country to score over 1000 runs in domestic List A cricket. In August last year, he slammed a 133-ball 176 against South Africa ‘A’, and followed it with a 49-ball 87 in a T20 against a full-strength South Africa side in New Delhi. However, his limited-overs’ successes and average first class returns saw him being stereotyped as a short-format specialist, something that the 25-year-old is eager to change.
“If you ask any cricketer, I’m sure they would say that they want to play Test cricket. It’s the highest form of the game and I always wanted to excel in all three formats. Yes, I have my strengths, but I’d like to perform in every format,” he said.
Agarwal has been a revelation in this Duleep Trophy. A tally of 420 runs at an average of 84 does augur well for the season, and the Karnataka right-hander attributes his success to his temperament.
“I am obviously happy with the results. I am looking forward to get some big runs in the season. We worked on my temperament, and decided that I should take it session-by-session and play as many balls as possible,” he said.
Jadeja runs riot, Blue win Duleep Trophy
Ravindra Jadeja spun his way to another five-wicket haul as Gautam Gambhir’s India Blue defeated Yuvraj Singh-led India Red by 356 runs to lift the Duleep Trophy on Wednesday, which was played in the Challenger-style format for the first time. Jadeja was always going to be a handful on the crumbling fifth-day track, and the Saurashtra southpaw warmed up for the Test series against New Zealand with a match haul of 10 for 171.
Resuming the day with a lead of 476 runs, India Blue declared at 179/5, leaving Reds an improbable 517 runs to chase. Opener Abhinav Mukund retired hurt without scoring after being hit on his right shoulder by a lifter from Pankaj Singh, who was once again impressive in his opening burst. Skipper Yuvraj Singh and Gurkeerat Singh offered brief resistance before Jadeja and leggie Karn Sharma ran through the lower order as Reds folded for 161.
Star watch
Ravindra Jadeja: The pink ball didn’t bother Jadeja much as the left-armer got the ball to grip and turn on the traditional fifth-day track. His ten-wicket match haul will certainly be a confidence booster ahead of the Test series that starts next week.
Yuvraj Singh: The Punjab southpaw lasted just 31 balls, and struggled with his defence against the turning ball. He brought the crowd to their feet with couple of well-timed sixes, but didn’t show much inclination to grind it out.
