IPL 2020: Mayank Agarwal shows promise for Kings XI Punjab
Ever since the start of the 2016-17 season, Mayank Agarwal has got runs and scored consistently across every format or every series that he has been a part of. Be it for Karnataka, India ‘A’ or even the national team in Test cricket, there is no doubt that the Bangalore-born cricketer has been excellent. It seems like everything has come in perfect line for his career.
However, if there is one code he hasn’t really cracked, it is the Indian Premier League (IPL). Before 2020, Agarwal has been a part of the IPL for nine years and has played 77 games. Yet, his record reads a meagre 1266 runs at an average of 18.35 with a strike-rate of 128.14.
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The talent and the promise were always evident and it wasn’t that Agarwal couldn’t adapt to the T20 format. He has scored big runs in the Syed Mushtaq Ali as well. Yes, there is a big difference in the premier Indian domestic T20 competition and the IPL. But adaptability wasn’t the issue.
Agarwal has been more of a flash-in-the-pan more often than not and there were shades of brilliance time and again. His best season was 2019 where he scored 332 runs averaging 25.54 and striking at 141.88. Converting starts was an issue. Even in that season, he had nine scores of 15 or more and he could convert just two into 50+ scores.
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Hence, the Karnataka batsman had his goals set for this IPL. In an interview with ESPNCricinfo, he said, “I’ve been scoring runs at different levels, but the fact remains I haven’t had a breakthrough IPL season yet [in ten years now], so I’m looking forward to correcting that.”
And he has taken a big step towards that and showed it in the first game of this year’s IPL that this might be a different Mayank Agarwal.
For a large part of the last couple of years, Agarwal has batted at No. 3 at Kings XI Punjab (KXIP). The only time he moved up to open was when Chris Gayle didn’t play and that was the case on Sunday (20th September) in KXIP’s first game of the 2020 season.
The 29-year-old opened alongside skipper KL Rahul against the Delhi Capitals (DC). And he was the only KXIP batsman who looked anywhere close to being comfortable. Chasing 158 wasn’t a daunting task but it was going to be tricky.
All Agarwal did in the first half of the chase was stand at the non-striker’s and look at wickets tumble at the other end. In the first 10 overs, KXIP lost half their side and Agarwal played just 20 balls, scoring just 13 (without a single boundary). It was a slow start but Agarwal couldn’t have done much either with wickets falling around him.
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However, he batted beautifully in the second half and changed gears really well. He moved from 13 to 35 in 17 balls but the main change came at the death. Before the game against DC, Agarwal had scored 125 runs in the death in the IPL, striking at 208.33. And in this game, he made 54 runs in just 23 balls in the last five overs.
Mayank Agarwal in #IPL in the last five overs before today.
RUNS 1⃣2⃣5⃣
BALLS 6⃣0⃣
DISMISSALS 8⃣
RPO 1⃣2⃣.5⃣#IPL2020#DCvKXIP— Stat Doctor
(@stat_doctor) September 20, 2020
With 53 needed off the last four overs, Agarwal played really smartly and showed what he can do at the death when he is set. After plucking 11 runs from Anrich Nortje’s last over (17th of the innings), he took a special liking towards Mohit Sharma and smashed him for 17 runs, reducing the equation down to 25 from two.
And things were getting tough for Agarwal as well as he started suffering from cramps. But he held firm and hit a couple of boundaries in the Rabada over (the penultimate one) which included a dropped catch from Shreyas Iyer at deep mid-wicket.
With 13 required off the last over, Agarwal almost killed the game with a six and a four and all he needed to do was finish it off. However, he was caught in the deep and it turned into agony for the Karnataka lad who played magnificently as the game went into a Super Over and KXIP eventually lost.
It was a game that KXIP should’ve never won from 55 for 5 in 10 overs but it was Agarwal who single-handedly took them through. Even though the 2014 finalists lost the game, they will be mighty pleased with the way Agarwal batted. He played all around the wicket as well and he showed his range.
How Mayank Agarwal scored his runs in the second match of IPL 2020 between Kings XI Punjab and Delhi Capitals
For the last two years, it’s been Rahul and Gayle doing the bulk of the scoring got KXIP. In fact, the KXIP batting has largely been about those two stars at the top. The star-studded opening duo have scored more than 47% of the runs for KXIP since 2018.
And the way Agarwal has started the 2020 season will give KXIP a lot of promise and hope. Yes, it came at the top of the order, but Agarwal can do the job at No. 3 as well and showed that today with the way he moved through the gears in different phases of the game and under different circumstances. It is the flexibility that Agarwal provides and the team can play around with a few options.
There is no doubt that the Universe Boss Chris Gayle is still a powerhouse but his skills and consistency are on the wane and Agarwal becomes crucial there. If he can continue in the same vein and get a lot more consistent, something that has been an area of concern for Agarwal in the IPL, unlike the other formats, it eases the tension off Rahul, Anil Kumble and the KXIP team management. It allows KXIP to play a couple of overseas bowlers and they can rotate around with Nicholas Pooran and Gayle in the batting department. It also takes a lot of pressure off Rahul who is donning three roles this season.
Thus, KXIP will be happy to see the way Agarwal played in the first game and the way he set the tone. Agarwal has shown that he can do it even at the IPL level. Not only in this first game against DC where he scored 89 (his highest IPL score), in this first game but even in the previous seasons. But those were one or at max two innings in a season. Now, it’s just about finding that consistency and repeating it again and again.