It is easy to switch formats if your game plan is clear: Mayank Agarwal

It wouldn’t be an aberration to say Mayank Agarwal has had a stellar 2019. From performing under the most pressure-cooker situations in Australia during the four-match Test cricket to cementing his place after having racked up consistent scorers one after the other and emerging as one of the bedrocks of Indian Test batting, the Karnataka opener has done it all this year.

In nine Tests, Agarwal has racked up 872 runs at an average of 67.07 including three hundreds including a double hundred. Now courtesy an injury to southpaw Shikhar Dhawan, the right-hander has gained a call-up to the One-day squad as a backup opener. So, how does the Indian Test opener manages to switch on to a particular format, considering there is such a lot of cricket these days?

Speaking to Yuzvendra Chahal on his show ‘Chahal TV’, Agarwal reckoned that its easier to switch formats when your understanding of the game is clear as the basics are the same. “The more I play like this, the better it is for me as a cricketer because I rather play cricket than not play cricket. When it comes to mindset (switching formats), the basics remain the same. It’s easy to switch formats if your game-plan is clear and your understanding of the game is clear,” Agarwal told Chahal as quoted by Times Now.

Mayank Agarwal wants to win every match and tournament

It is not only in Test cricket that Mayank Agarwal has been scoring truckloads of runs. He has been in great form in domestic white-ball tournaments. Agarwal played a crucial knock in the 2019 Vijay Hazare Trophy final against Tamil Nadu. According to Mayank, the most important thing for him, regardless of where he plays, he wants to be an asset to the team.

“Regardless of wherever I play, I always think about how I can become an asset to my team and how I can contribute to the team. Even if I don’t score runs with the bat, I think about contributing on the field, bringing in more energy on the field.

“I want to win each and every match, each and every tournament. When you come in with that attitude, your mindset will be good. There’s no guarantee that you’ll get the results 100 percent but you will be giving yourselves a good chance to perform,” he said. Mayank has had a stellar List A career thus far. In 79 List A games, the Indian Test opener has scored 3869 runs at an average of 50.90 and a strike-rate of 101.57 with the help of 13 three-figure scores and 15 half-centuries.

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