'Manage your mental energy and thoughts' - Mayank Agarwal reveals Rahul Dravid's advice that helped him regain form on Test comeback

Indian opener Mayank Agarwal, who jumped to the 11th spot in the Test rankings after his stellar and Player of the Match effort of 150 and 62 in the Mumbai Test against New Zealand, has lauded coach Rahul Dravid for helping him with the mental aspects of the game come out of a century-drought.

Agarwal made his comeback into the Test setup after almost a year, as he was last part of the team during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2020-21, before missing out on both the home and away series against England. On his comeback in Kanpur, he failed to make it count, dismissed cheaply in both the innings, but made a sensational comeback in the last encounter of the series.

His efforts helped the team record their biggest win ever in terms of margin of runs, as India thumped New Zealand by 372 runs to beat their previous record of a 337-run victory over South Africa. Meanwhile, he revealed how Dravid advised him to focus on the present and keep a tab on his emotions.

Rahul Dravid helped me in both mental and technical aspect: Mayank Agarwal

“He [Rahul Dravid] said I know you haven’t got a lot of runs but just manage your emotions. Manage your mental energy and your thoughts. Don’t dwell too much on it, he helped in the mental aspect,” Mayank was quoted by Hindustan Times.

“On the technical aspect, he insisted that this is the technique which gave you a lot of runs in the past. Just stick to that, the runs will come. Back the things that have worked for you, and fortunately in the very next innings, the runs came,” he explained how the coach assisted him with the technical aspect.

As a result of his performance, Agarwal found his name in the 18-member squad for the South Africa series, where India will be playing three Tests followed by as many ODIs. However, with KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma, who both missed the New Zealand Tests due to injury and rest, respectively, back in the fold, it remains to be seen whether or not Agarwal get a look-in in the series.