We totally back Odean Smith: Mayank Agarwal

Odean Smith had a forgettable game against Gujarat. Not only did he score a duck, but he leaked 19 runs in the final over which led to Gujarat winning an absolute thriller. Besides, his decision to try to run out Rahul Tewatia turned out to be a game-changing moment.

Not only did Smith's throw miss the stumps, but it also allowed the all-rounder to come on strike. After which, Tewatia hit two sixes in the last two balls to win it for the Hardik Pandya-led side. This is Punjab's second loss in four games. They are currently placed sixth in the points table.

As for Smith, he hasn't been at his best after the first game against Bangalore. However, his skipper Mayank Agarwal stood by him even after Punjab's loss on Friday. During the post-match presentation, he stated that they still back the Caribbean all-rounder.

"Last over could have been anyone's game. We totally back Odean, it's fine, he probably had a hard game but that's fine. We back him a 100%. It's just a game of cricket, it could be a bitter one to swallow but it's fine. The talk in the group is we always back the guys. If he has a bad day, he has a bad day, no worries, we back him 100%," said Mayank Agarwal.

The opener then drew light on his team's performance on Friday. He was happy with the way they fought. Agarwal spoke about the positives from their clash against Gujarat. Further on, he also went on to praise Arshdeep Singh and Kagiso Rabada.

"It was a tough game but we really fought hard. We were 5-7 runs short but we pulled it back after the start they had. There were a lot of positives for us. We did really well to get ourselves to that score after losing so many wickets, so we were very happy with that. We fought really hard on the field. It was great execution by both of them (Rabada and Arshdeep), fantastic effort by them to pull the game, they really got us in the game," he added.