Mayank Agarwal doesn't want to be called a one-season wonder

In last February, with the 2017-18 season drawing near its end, Karnataka‘s Mayank Agarwal sealed his name on a couple of mighty records. With a total of 2232 runs under his belt, he became the batsman with the most number of runs in an Indian domestic season. He was also the highest run-getter individually in both Ranji Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy.However, even with all this success, he still did not get called up for the national team. But he hopes that will change after the upcoming IPL season.

For IPL 2018, Mayank Agarwal has been picked up by the Kings XI Punjab franchise this year and the cricketer wants to reap this opportunity to the best of his abilities. In Mayank’s own words, he does not want his great performance in the domestic circuit to be called a piece of luck and wants to continue it into the star-studded tournament.

I don’t want anyone to point fingers at me

“For me as a player, one of the targets would be to succeed in this year’s IPL, I don’t want to be called a one-season wonder,” Mayank told Times of India on Friday. Clearly, he wants this run to continue for as long as possible. “You want to get better with every season. I don’t want anyone to point fingers at me and say that he didn’t perform after one season,” he adds.

Mayank usually opens the innings in his domestic teams, but with KXIP that will be a difficult task. Other than Agarwal, there are IPL veterans Chris Gayle and Aaron Finch, as well as national side players KL Rahul and Karun Nair who would be competing for those two spots in the final XI.

However, Mayank is flexible about his position in the team. “My aim is to add value to the side, and it doesn’t only have to be as an opener. If playing in the middle-order helps the team, so be it. Cricket is not an individual sport, it is a team sport. The team management decides what the role of a player should be; and, at the end of the day, as a player you have to go out there and perform,” he added.

About his cricketing hero

He is also excited about sharing the dressing room and the dugout with all the other stalwarts of the team, especially the team director Virender Sehwag. “He (Sehwag) is my favourite cricketer. As a kid, I was always fascinated by the way he took the attack to the opposition and the way he dominated. What I would like to learn from him (Sehwag) is his mindset while tackling various situations,” Agarwal says about his cricketing hero.

Mayank is also looking forward to playing under the captaincy of Ravichandran Ashwin, the new captain of the Kings’ and learn some good deal from him too. “I am looking forward to playing under Ashwin’s captaincy, and evolve under his leadership. At the end of the day, performance will be the key and I am hoping I can put in a good show,” Agarwal concluded.

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