Mayank Agarwal: When Even Performance Doesn’t Get You an India Cap

There is little Mayank Agarwal hasn't achieved in this domestic Indian cricket season.

• He is the Ranji Trophy's highest-scorer with an amazing run of 4 matches where he scored an unbeaten triple century and also 4 more tons.
• He is also the highest-scorer of the Vijay Hazare tournament, with 723 runs and 80+ scores in 7 of the 8 matches he played. For context, the second-highest scorer made 390 runs.
• In the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, he managed three half centuries and batted at a strike rate of 144.94.
• Mayank also broke Sachin Tendulkar’s 15-year-old record of the most runs in a List A tournament. His 723 left behind the 673 scored by Sachin at the 2003 ICC World Cup.
• He is also the first and only cricketer to score more than 2000 runs in one domestic season

But, somehow, when the Indian selectors were picking a squad for the T20 tri-series against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, Mayank Agarwal just somehow missed the mark.

Five fairly new players have been picked for the tour in which Virat, Dhoni, Pandya. Bumrah, Kuldeep have all been rested so the question does beg to be asked: What more can Mayank simply do?

The one argument being made is that Mayank is an opener and, as things stand, Virat Kohli has his hands full with too many vying for that slot. But why close yourself to more options? Why not also rest Shikhar Dhawan and see what Mayank’s got for the Lankan spinners or the Bangladeshi pacers? One way or another, you will know right?

And it’s not even like Mayank is only fixated on the top spot. His 176 against Delhi in the Ranji Trophy, came while he was batting at one down.

If India’s recent tour of South Africa is any indication, then ‘recent form’ seems to count for a lot (case in point: the Rahane vs Rohit debate during the ODI series), so what is more ‘recent’ and ‘form’ than the 81, 140, 89 and 102 he 'recently' smashed in the Vijay Hazare Trophy in February 2018?