Hard work, Rahul Dravid inputs fuel Mayank Agarwal’s success

BENGALURU: If you ask Mayank Agarwal to bat with a walking stick, he could still middle the ball and score runs! One look at his domestic record this season, and it seems he has been in that kind of form.
Highest scorer in Ranji Trophy with 1,160 runs in 8 matches, highest scorer so far in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy one-dayers with 412 runs in five matches. The opener has made heads turn. He would definitely be looking to continue in the same vein when Karnataka face Hyderabad in the quarterfinals on Wednesday.

Such kind of stats cannot be achieved overnight. It needs dedication, hard work and perseverance and Mayank’s hard work with personal batting coach RX Murali seems to have worked wonders.

“I am happy with the scores. I have been working with RX (Murali) sir for four years. We did a lot of situation-based training, where he put me in different situations. He made me bat on different kinds of wet surfaces, at times in absolute mud to negotiate turn and all those things. He never asked me to do this or that. He just said ‘figure out your own way of dealing with the situation’. After such effort, it really feels nice to see this season’s success,” Mayank told Express.

It is not about the way he hits the ball; his conversion rate has also been solid. After crossing 50 four times in his last five matches, he converted two into tons. There is an air of confidence about him.

“Confidence plays a major role in all sports. If a sportsman is confident, it helps. A lot of confidence is derived from knowing and understanding your game and how you feel. I have got more understanding of my game this year than I had last year,” said the 27-year-old.

Mayank, in the past, had given his wicket away playing rash shots. However, there has been a conscious effort on his part to concentrate on every ball, and Rahul Dravid’s inputs seem to have worked well.

“Having a word with Rahul Dravid during India A series against New Zealand also helped me. He was telling me about the mental energy part and after I applied it, it paid good dividends,” Mayank added.

At the same time, Mayank is aware that his performance in the T20 format could have been better. He scored 258 runs in nine Syed Mushtaq Ali matches, which was below par by his standards.

“I do not think I performed too badly in Mushtaq Ali, but I would have loved to contribute more to the team. I do agree, at times, I was too eager to score quickly. I think that was some of the learning from the competition.”

Although the season has been amazing on the personal front, it has been disappointing for Karnataka. After being knocked out by eventual champions Vidarbha in the Ranji semis and a below-par outing in T20s, Vijay Hazare is their best chance of silverware.

“Winning the title is always there at the back of the mind, we want to win the trophy, but we are also focused on taking it one game at a time,” concluded Mayank, who wants to concentrate on IPL only after Vijay Hazare is over.

ashim@newindianexpress.com