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Mayank Agarwal (Image source- Twitter)
Mayank Agarwal has been called up in England for the rescheduled fifth Test match at Edgbaston on the 1st of July. The star Indian batter will fly to England on Monday and will join the rest of the squad. Agarwal had previously been left out of the team, but was called up owing to the unexpected unavailability of certain players.
Indian skipper Rohit Sharma has been quarantined at the team hotel after testing positive for Covid-19. Thus, his availability for the rescheduled match is in doubt. Earlier, KL Rahul was ruled out of the team due to a groin ailment he suffered before the South Africa series. He is scheduled to have surgery in Germany.
According to the government regulations, Agarwal will not be subjected to any quarantine and will thus be eligible to play immediately if needed. The 31-year-old last played a Test match during the home series against Sri Lanka. He only managed 59 runs at an average of 19.66 in the two matches that he played.
He then led the Punjab team in the Indian T20 League 2022 and was seen in the Ranji Trophy for Karnataka as well. The team faced a defeat in the quarter-final match against Uttar Pradesh. His run in the 2022 edition was not impressive either. He scored 196 runs at an average of 16.33 and a strike rate of 122.5 in the season. His team ended in sixth place in the tournament.
Ravi Shastri on Mayank Agarwal
Former Indian coach Ravi Shastri believed that the pressure of captaincy had gotten to him. This ultimately may have led to him being left out of the Indian team, he said. "I love the kid. I know how he plays his cricket, how determined he is. But it's putting a guy who is very good at what he does in a wrong place," he said, as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.
"And it can have problems. Serious problems. Serious repercussions. It could have cost him his place in the Indian side. Test side, everything, because the selectors will judge on current form, they will judge on what they actually see," he added.