Mayank Agarwal has been unlucky not to make it into the international side yet despite piling on runs in domestic cricket. Whereas 19-year-old Prithvi Shaw and Hanuma Vihari got their maiden Test call-up for the remaining two Tests of the Test series against England, Agarwal is still playing domestic cricket.
The 27-year-old slammed another ton of the season, his first of the ongoing quadrangular series between India A, India B, South Africa A and Australia A. The India B opener led his team to the victory with his knock of 124 runs from 114 deliveries including 14 fours and 3 sixes.
The India B opener faced the likes of Mohammed Siraj, Deepak Chahar who have already made their international debut. The Karnataka batsmen did not get a call-up despite scoring 1160 runs off 8 matches in Ranji Trophy 2017-18 followed by 723 runs in Vijay Hazare Trophy.
He has scored over 2,000 runs in the domestic front in this calendar year but could not find a spot in the Indian batting lineup which has struggled for a better part of the Test series.
Few might say that he has only been good in home conditions but Agarwal scored two centuries on English pitches on India A’s recently-concluded tour. The same tour which worked in the favour of Shaw and Vihari.
The opener got a little support from his fans on Twitter after his fourth List A century of the year,
Mayank Agarwal scores another century. Well played @mayankcricket , that’s the best way to respond to snub from BCCI. #IndAvIndB #QuadrangularSeries #mayankagarwal
— Cricket Blog (@kirketblog) August 25, 2018
All said and done, Mayank Agarwal playing quadrangulars over warming the bench with the Test team in England may not be a bad thing after all. Puts him in the frame to force his way into the ODI team for Asia Cup.
— Shashank Kishore (@captainshanky) August 25, 2018
Can’t quarrel with Prithvi Shaw’s inclusion in India’s Test squad. Very exciting talent and deserves his shot. But in the meantime, Mayank Agarwal is not letting any opportunity go to remind the selectors he’s still in contention too. Century today: https://t.co/0NM9dsi48y
— Saurabh Somani (@saurabh_42) August 25, 2018
Keep doing what you do best lad #mayankagarwal… Doors can’t be closed for long… Just break it down @BCCI pic.twitter.com/J7tMNnWs5n
— Gomesh Shanmugavelayutham (@GS_cricfan) August 25, 2018
Mayank Agarwal on his way to another big one
Surely deserves an odi look in at some point this year as a reserve opener— Pradeep Ramarathnam (@congusmaximus) August 25, 2018
Why team not looking at Mayank Agarwal? Why Prithvi Shaw got nod ahead of him? #AakashVani #Aapkivani
— Manish Ravat (@manishravat67) August 25, 2018
Is #MayankAgarwal next #MVSridhar of South?
We have many examples to quote on Pan India basis.
Loads of runs yet no call from seniors’ team.
— Bhavani Sankar M S ® (@Bhavanisms) August 25, 2018
In 2018 List A Cricket:
Most Runs: Mayank Agarwal
Most Fours: Mayank Agarwal
Most 100s: Mayank Agarwal
But still no place in Indian team!
— BrokenStats (@Broken_Statz) August 25, 2018
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In a recent interview with Firspost, Agarwal was extremely confident despite not getting the maiden call-up, he said,
I think I am very happy with the progress. I am very happy with the way I am batting. I am in a great mind space and I want to continue batting and scoring runs. Scoring 2000 runs in a domestic season is not a joke. I am very, very happy with the way I am batting. Yes, I did not have a good IPL. I have to look at my performances as a whole season and not just one tournament.
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