Mayank Agarwal, who has been scoring runs consistently, admitted that he still has a long way to go following his maiden call to the India Test squad.
Meanwhile, the selectors picked a relatively young squad for the series against Windies. Prithvi Shaw and Hanuma Vihari, who made it to the India squad for the England series retained their places. Furthermore, Mayank Agarwal and Mohammed Siraj earned their debut call.
With a rich vein of form in the last 18 months, Mayank Agarwal has been making right sense for some time now. He amassed 1160 runs in a record-breaking Ranji season. Speaking to media, he admitted that there is still a long way to go and will try to keep the momentum going.
“My hard work has paid off but there is a long way to go,” Agarwal said to The Indian Express on Sunday. “It is just a start. I will try to keep the same momentum if I get a chance to play for India,” he added.
The 23-year-old Mayank Agarwal remained hopeful of his chances despite ignored by the selectors for the England series. He talked about motivation from Rahul Dravid who asked him to concentrate on his batting alone.
“Rahul bhai (Dravid) told me to focus on what I can control and to be in the present. He told me if I keep performing then what is bound to happen will happen. I always believed that hard work would pay finally. He told me that I have a good work ethic and when someone like Rahul bhai tells you that you are going in the right direction it means a lot. Everyone needs someone senior as a guide and I am thankful that he was there for me,” Agarwal continues.
My mother couldn’t control her emotions
Mayank Agarwal revealed that his mother couldn’t control her emotions on hearing the news. Moreover, he also thanked his Karnataka captain Vinay Kumar for keeping his faith in him.
“Actually our coach (BPXI) Abhay Sharma had told me earlier but I waited for a confirmation. I’m looking forward to the Test series. I spoke to my parents, my mother wasn’t able to control her emotions. Also I called up Karnataka captain Vinay Kumar to thank him for backing me when I was about to be dropped from the Ranji team a few years ago. In the next game, I scored 300-odd runs and have not looked back since,” he concluded.
Mayank Agarwal is currently representing Board President XI in the practice game against Windies. He started the game on high scoring 90 odd runs in the first innings.