What more Mayank Agarwal needs to get into Team India?

Samarth Srivastava

New Delhi: What else a batsman can do other than performing well to get a national call-up? It seems performance is not the basis of selection when it comes to talented Mayank Agarwal.

It would not be harsh to say that the selection committee comprising of MSK Prasad, Sarandeep Singh and Devang Gandhi has made a mockery of not just domestic Cricket but also of those players who are performing well consistently but there inclusion in the national team has become a dream.

Two days back, the selection committee of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced national side for the Nidahas trophy (T20 tri-series). With players like Deepak Hooda, Washington Sundar and Vijay Shankar being included in the Dhoni-Kohli less side, the tremendous run of Agarwal in the domestic circuit was clearly ignored.

Factors which disappointed the entire Cricket fraternity and fans after Mayank Agarwal did not find place in the India squad for the T20I series in Sri Lanka:

• Be it any format of Cricket, his brilliance with the bat is unstoppable.
• At a strike rate of 144.94, Mayank hit four fifties in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament.
• He scored over 1,000 runs at a strike rate of 105.45 in Ranji Trophy; second most by any Indian in a season.
• The Karnataka player remained the leading run-getter of 2017/18 season’s Ranji Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy.

• Mayank even eclipsed the record of God of Cricket Sachin Tendulkar in List A Tournaments.
• With 705 runs in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, he became the first Indian batsman to score 700 runs in List A Series. Earlier, Sachin topped the list with 673 runs in World Cup 2003.
• He amassed 2,141 runs across Inter-State tournaments in 2017/18.
• Mayank has become a first player to aggregate 2,000 runs in an Indian domestic season.

Mayank made things look effortless with his languid batting style. He came with perfect plans against the opponents and executed them with perfection.

Let’s take a glance at Mayank Agarwal’s Vijay Hazare Trophy 2018 run:

Mayank’s scores in Vijay Hazare Trophy: 77, 109, 84, 28, 102, 89, 140, 81 and 90.

When BCCI was asked about Agarwal's no call-up for India side, it said that regardless of how well any player is performing in domestic cricket, he will only be selected in the national team if he has played for India.

"The board is running according to a pattern," said BCCI.

Cricket commentator and expert Harsha Bhogle came up with an advice for Mayank, a sarcastic one although, but quite enough to motivate Mayank with tournaments like Irani Trophy under his belt.

Harsha stated, “If you want to break into the national side, you don't knock on the door, you force it open with your performances. Mayank Agarwal is doing that now.”

https://twitter.com/bhogleharsha/status/968395277056069632

Aakash Chopra, however, came with a different view and stressed more on balancing the side other than doing the justice.

"Team selection isn’t only about justice....it’s more about balance. Picking players for the slot they’re best suited for. Feel for Mayank Agarwal," tweeted Aakash Chopra.

https://twitter.com/cricketaakash/status/967676894597574656