A 1000-run month in Ranji Trophy and a Test debut in Australia might not be the biggest highlight of Mayank Agarwal's career anymore with India calling him to join the World Cup squad as a replacement for the injured Vijay Shankar.
Mayank is yet to make his debut in limited-overs cricket for India and that he was called ahead of Ambati Rayudu has raised further eyebrows. But given how the team has fared so far in England and how the pitches have behaved, Mayank could just be the perfect replacement player to bring in.
India's campaign so far in the World Cup has had two major roadblocks.
- The middle-order has failed to score big runs or even rotate strike consistently once Virat Kohli gets out.
- The batting in first powerplay.
With Shikhar Dhawan ruled out of the World Cup, India's usual ploy of allowing Rohit Sharma to settle down before catching up hasn't quite worked out well. It has put pressure on the middle-order, which, as was evident against England at Edgbaston, does not have enough firepower. KL Rahul's promotion to the top has also not worked out quite well.
Although Rahul has found starts, he has neither converted them nor shown the urgency to ensure the team’s run rate isn't compromised, with Rohit following a similar template from the other end. Against England at Edgbaston on Sunday, India made just 28 runs in the first 10 overs which forced them to play catch up later on given the daunting target.
The middle-order has woes of its own with intent and strike rotation against spin being major headaches.
It would be overbearing to assume that Mayank will be able to fix all this given that he is yet to debut in the format Internationally. But given India's fallacies so far, the decision to bring in Rayudu might just have been like taking a few steps back. Rayudu has similar strike rate concerns and the last thing India want in the middle-order now is another batsman who consumes balls and fails to rotate strike.
On the other hand, evidence points towards Mayank being a healthy strike rotator and a fabulous player of spin.
Roll back to Melbourne and the Karnataka opener's Test debut against Australia last year. Coming in as a replacement for the injured Prithvi Shaw, Mayank made his debut in the third Test of the series and made 76 in his first innings, albeit on a fairly good batting wicket. However, one aspect that stood out in that debut was the manner in which he handled Nathan Lyon, the tormentor-in-chief for India in the first two Tests.
Mayank barely allowed Lyon to settle down into a rhythm and took on his flighted off-breaks with disdain. The pressure exerted forced Lyon to change to a defensive approach and eventually it affected Australia's plans. It was simple-thinking batting and it is just what India needs in this World Cup campaign to go the distance.
"An unbelievable performance [Mayank's innings on debut] but it was his intent against Nathan Lyon that stood out. I actually think he has shown the other Indian batsmen how to put Nathan Lyon under pressure," Michael Clarke said on Sony Sports during the post-tea show after Mayank's debut half-century. "He made Lyon bowl majority of his overs from around the wicket, which Nathan would prefer to bowl over. He has been able to bowl over in the first two Test matches so because of his [Agarwal] intent as he opened up scoring on both sides of the wicket."
Twice in that conversation then, Clarke used the word "intent", something India sorely lacked against England on Sunday. Mayank brings just that. He isn't the kind of subdued player who lets the bowler dictate terms to him.
The no. 4 position, which almost appears to be cursed, is now with Pant after he replaced Shankar in the match against England game but there surely is a case for Mayank to walk into that position, given how he can attack and flourish in the middle overs against spin.
The pitches in England haven't been too high scoring either, with the surface slowing down as the game progresses. Handling spin has been a quintessential quality in the middle overs this World Cup and with Dhoni, Pant and Jadhav in the middle, India have struggled to milk the spinners well enough.
But that's not the only fix Mayank brings in. Rahul has been fidgety at the top and there were talks of Pant opening with Rohit on Sunday although that did not eventually transpire. If indeed India need an additional option at the top, Mayank is there to provide that. Having opened in red ball cricket at the highest level against the likes of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins, Mayank has the technique required to ride the tough period and capitalise. Unlike Rohit and Rahul, he isn't averse to taking the bowling on in the powerplay overs, another area that needs fix.
When Vijay Shankar was called up ahead of Rayudu in the initial World Cup squad, chairman of selectors, MSK Prasad, cited his three-dimensional qualities as a primary reason. Mayank doesn't bowl but with his batting qualities suiting more than one single requirement in the side, it could be that the selectors are looking for flexibility in the business end of the tournament.
That Mayank was asked to jump the pecking order to be selected shows the selectors made a proactive call based on the team's current requirements. The Karnataka opener fills more than one shoe and could just be the missing link to India's near-perfect (oh, let's cut them some slack for Sunday) campaign so far.
(Rohit Sankar is a freelance cricket writer. He can be reached at @imRohit_SN)
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