Mayank Agarwal is a cricketer by accident and India don’t mind it

Not long ago, he was being sympathised with for not getting the India call despite scoring tons of runs in domestic cricket. Lady Luck eventually smiled on the 27-year-old Mayank Agarwal as he made the cut into the squad for the Australia series Down Under as a replacement for the injured Prithvi Shaw. His much-awaited moment to represent India on the international stage came in Melbourne during the third Test and he opened his account with a 76.

The opener scored a crucial 42 in the second innings and then followed it up with a 77 in the very next Test in Sydney. He might be disappointed for missing out on two chances of scoring a century but the cricketing world has made a note of the arrival of yet another special talent.

However, the game will thanks its stars as Mayank became a cricketer by accident. The cricketer’s actual dream was to become a pilot for he has a fascination with aircraft. He never dreamt of representing India in cricket but as Destiny had its plan for him, he is now a member of India’s exciting youth brigade on the 22 yards.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India tweeted a video on Friday that revealed Mayank’s journey to becoming a cricketer from someone who wanted to fly aircraft. “Cricket was not in the plan in the beginning. In my childhood, I had a fascination about aircraft and wanted to become a pilot. When I got the news to make debut for India, the joy was boundless,” he said.

Here is the video of Mayank Agarwal talking about his journey:

“I was fond of Aeroplanes in my childhood, so I used to think will do studies in science and will become a pilot. When I played for Karnataka, then I felt that yes, I can do this also. But, I let myself to decide to play only cricket or not playing cricket. My parents were very supportive they keep your options open and pursue what you love,” he said in the interview.

Mayank created a record in the Boxing Day Test

Mayank’s opportunity came in the Boxing Day Test as India decided to get rid of both their out-of-touch openers KL Rahul and Murali Vijay. The debutant was paired with another talented newcomer Hanuma Vihari as the openers for the Test in Melbourne and they gave the team a decent start by seeing off the new ball. Vihari though fell early, Mayank went on to make history by scoring the highest score as an Indian on Test debut in Australia.

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