IND vs SA: Mayank Agarwal Needs To Find A Way To Tackle The Line Outside Off-Stump: Sanjay Manjrekar

Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar is concerned with Indian opener Mayank Agarwal’s approach to play with hard hands.

Mayank started the South Africa tour scoring 60 runs from 123 balls in Centurion but thereafter hasn’t perform up to his potential as his scores in the last five innings read as 4, 26, 23, 15 & 7.

Kagiso Rabada dismisses Mayank Agarwal in the second innings of the third Test

On the second day of the third Test, Mayank was forced to play a full and around off stump pitched delivery by Kagiso Rabada as Dean Elgar took a brilliant catch at the first slip to complete the dismissal.

The way Mayank Agarwal has got out in the last few innings worries me: Sanjay Manjrekar

Manjrekar said Mayank will have to find a way to tackle the balls that are pitched outside the off-stump and cited Indian skipper Virat Kohli’s example for the same.

“How you get out is very important for a coach or a selector to decide the future of a player and the way Mayank Agarwal has got out in the last few innings worries me. Until this Test match, I thought he was shaping well and he might [have found] a way to come with softer hands on the ball, leave balls outside the off-stump.

“Outside the off-stump, that channel is tricky to handle. Different batters handle it differently. Virat Kohli these days leaves everything outside the off-stump, some people play and are very confident. Mayank Agarwal needs to find a way to tackle that line,” Manjrekar told ESPNCricinfo.

“At the moment, he’s coming with two hard [hands], with a high backlift and the bat is coming hard on the ball. The slip catches are also going so quickly to the catchers to suggest it’s coming very hard. So Mayank Agarwal has a problem and that’s I guess work for the batting coach and Rahul Dravid,” he added.

India lost two quick wickets of senior players Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane. The visitors were leading by 103 runs during the drinks break of the first session of Day 3.

Also Read: IND vs SA: Mayank Agarwal Gets Out In The Same Way And Will Be Exposed In Overseas Conditions – Ajit Agarkar