2018 Nidahas Trophy: BCCI selectors ignore Mayank once again
India announced their 15-member squad on Sunday for the upcoming 2018 Nidahas Trophy, which will start from March 6. Despite resting key players for the Tri-nation T20I series, Mayank Agarwal did not make the cut in the Rohit Sharma-led team, that will face Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The in-form batsman will be gutted after his exclusion, especially after scoring a bag full of runs.
Who is Mayank Agarwal?
The 27-year-old represents Karnataka in domestic cricket. Mayank was purchased by Kings XI Punjab for the upcoming Indian Premier League 2018 season for Rs. 1 crore. The swashbuckling opener has been in prime form in the domestic circuit this season across all the three formats and has scored runs aplenty. In the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy, Mayank has helped Karnataka reach the final.
Stat attack- Mayank Agarwal
The right-handed batsman has scored three centuries and an equal number of fifties in just seven matches in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy. His scores, in the last seven innings, read 109, 84, 28, 102, 89, 140, 81.
Mayank in for Dhawan?
Since the Nidahas Trophy isn't as big as the series against South Africa, heavyweights India have gone in with certain new faces. The likes of Kohli, MS Dhoni have been rested and one may feel that Shikhar Dhawan could have also been left out especially after a long tour. That's where Mayank could have come into contention, given that he is an opening batsman.
Career statistics till now
First class- Matches: 37, Runs: 2917, Best score: 304*, Average: 51.17, List A- Matches: 53, Runs: 2512, Best score: 176, Average: 47.39, T20s- Matches: 100, Runs: 2220, Best score: 111, Strike rate: 130.97
The road ahead!
Mayank will be hoping to finish the job for Karnataka and help them win the Vijay Hazare Trophy. With the Indian Premier League 2018 starting in April, Mayank's priority will be to get matches under his belt and score runs for KXIP. India's next assignment in T20Is is against Ireland and England post the IPL and he will want to be in contention.
