T20 specialist Mayank Agarwal has scores of 130, 61 and 176 in four matches of ongoing tri-series, involving 'A' teams of Australia and South Africa
'He has shown the ability to bat for long'
India ‘A’ coach Rahul Dravid says being dropped from Karnataka's Ranji Trophy-winning team must have acted as a catalyst for young Mayank Agarwal to work on his game.
Primarily a T20 specialist, the India 'A' opener was never known for his consistency till the ongoing tri-series, involving the ‘A’ teams of Australia and South Africa, in which he has scores of 130, 61 and 176 in three out of four matches.
"It is really nice to see that Mayank has now converted starts twice and got two big scores. It shows really good level of maturity. He always had the talent being an India under-19 player. Sometimes people had question marks about his consistency. It is nice to see that he has been consistent in this tournament. What is important is that he has shown the ability to bat for long," said Dravid, while talking about Agarwal’s second hundred in the tri-series tournament on Thursday against South Africa ‘A’, at the post-match press conference.
On Thursday, against South Africa 'A, the 24-year-old scored 176 off 133 balls as India 'A' won by 34 runs, but Dravid refused to take credit for Agarwal’s turnaround, saying he does not have a "magic wand".
"I wish I had that kind of magic that I could change a guy in a day. I was with him for few days and I do not want to take credit for that. The credit lies with him. He has put in the effort. May be that’s because he was dropped from the Ranji Trophy side in Karnataka.
"Playing for a team like Karnataka, which is a pretty good side, and if you do not score runs in a few games you find you are out of the team. He was not part of the side when they went on to win the final. I think that might have hurt him. Probably there was some amount of valid criticism because of a talented guy like him not to get a first-class hundred," said Dravid, attempting to set the record straight.
"Therefore, it is credit to him that he had worked hard in the off-season and in fitness he has lost lot of weight. He has been batting a lot. I think after he had done well in the Vijay Hazare tournament he got himself selected for this tri series tournament.
"I hope he (Agarwal) continues with this kind of performance and makes big runs in the next season and bangs the doors of the selectors to go higher levels. At this level, you need to bang the door open. There are lots of good players in India.
"You need to consistently keep performing because there are good players coming through the system and when you get the opportunity and when you are in form actually you need to carry on with big scores, which is vitally important," the India ‘A’ coach added.
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