ICC World Cup 2019: Virat Kohli, Ravi Shastri Wanted Mayank Agarwal As Replacement

It was surprising move when Mayank Agarwal was named as the replacement for injured Vijay Shankar. Shankar suffered a toe injury which ruled him out of the match against England. However, he was seen carrying drinks for the team in the same match. Furthermore, the players of the reserve list were not given preference and Mayank Agarwal was selected out of the blue.

Now it is revealed that the Indian team captain Virat Kohli and head coach Ravi Shastri wanted Mayank Agarwal as the replacement for Vijay Shankar. In fact, Mayank Agarwal has an impressive record in the List A format and he had impressed with his batting on India A tour to England. Thus, the Karnataka batsman is well aware of the English conditions.

Mayank Agarwal deserves his opportunity.

Furthermore, the right-hander had impressed on his Test debut as he scored 195 runs in the two Test matches against Australia.

“The team management had made it clear that they wanted Mayank as a replacement for the injured Shankar. There was no question of the selectors debating that,” the source said.

In fact, it was written in the request that India wanted a top order batsman. Mayank Agarwal has scored his runs at an impressive strike rate of 100 in the domestic circuit and he has been in red hot form in the last two years. Furthermore, he should have received his opportunity a long time back. However, Agarwal has not yet made his ODI debut which is why he is a surprise pick into India’s squad.

Agarwal had an impressive tour of England with the India A under the tutelage of Rahul Dravid. The right-hander had scored 287 runs in the four matches.

“If you see the record he had during the one-day series against the ‘A’ teams, you will see that he scored 287 runs in four innings with two hundred. Not to forget his 151 against Leicestershire in the warm-up game. That series was also played in June and July and the general thought is that he is versatile and can adapt well,” the source pointed.