BENGALURU: There is something about Mayank Agarwal and his current purple patch, which does not seem to end. India A opener starred with the bat, top-scoring against South Africa A at M Chinnaswamy Stadium despite failing to add to his overnight score of 220 on Monday. This double has come after his heroics in England, where he scored three List A centuries.
After a prolific domestic season in 2017-18 (2,232 runs) and the current batting spree, one wonders what more needs to be done by Agarwal to get into the national team. This question gains prominence at the current hour with India openers not doing too well in England. The likes of Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan have not been too great in recent tours. Vijay has scored 128 in four Tests in 2018 while Dhawan has 71 runs in two games. They have not looked too comfortable in English conditions too.
One also has to mention that the team for the fourth and the fifth Test has not been announced. If Agarwal carries on such kind of form in the rest of the series and the India openers in England continue to struggle, the right-hander can come in the reckoning for the final two Tests. But, Agarwal is not too perturbed about chances. However, he has hit the right chords, scoring this double century with national chief selector MSK Prasad present at the venue.
“To be really honest, that is something which is not on my mind. I am batting really well, and I always look forward to keep doing that. Whatever has to happen, will happen. There are so many games that you are playing, you have to stay in the present. We are playing now, and then we have the quadrangular (in Vidarbha). It is all about focussing on the present.”
Despite having being overlooked for Nidahas Trophy earlier this year — where seniors were rested — he has been scoring runs at will. With the domestic season set to begin soon, he knows the importance of making his form count. “As a batsman, you have to be persistent. There will be times when you don’t get runs. There will be times when you will. It is about making it count when you are, using the confidence and the form you are in.”
Contributions from KS Bharat (64) and Hanuma Vihari (54) helped India score 584 before skipper Shreyas Iyer decided to declare. Then Mohammed Siraj ran through the visitors, scalping four wickets to put India in the driver’s seat, with South Africa A trailing by 239 runs.
Ashim.sunam@newindianexpress.com
Brief scores: India A 584/8 decl in 129.4 ovs (Mayank 220, Bharat 64, Vihari 54) vs South Africa A 246 & 99/4 in 40 ovs (Siraj 4/18).