IPL 2023 saw few veteran India stars producing impressive performances while the next generation also justified the hype. The likes of Ajinkya Rahane, Piyush Chawla, Amit Mishra, Mohit Sharma showed they’ve still a lot left in the tank while Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ravi Bishnoi and others showed the future of Indian cricket is in safe hands.
However, it wasn’t a happy season for everyone as few struggled to get going.
Sunrisers Hyderabad finished at the bottom of the standings with a host of their stars not able to justify the big bucks the franchise splurged on securing their services.
Among those was Mayank Agarwal who was released by Punjab Kings before SRH bought him for a whopping Rs 8.25 crore last December.
In 10 innings during the ongoing IPL season, Agarwal scored 270 runs at an average of 27 and a below-par strike-rate of 128.57.
However, he showed a glimpse of his old self during SRH’s final match of IPL 2023 against Mumbai Indians on Sunday, scoring a 46-ball 83 – his only half-century of the season.
It helped SRH post 200/5 but Cameron Green’s maiden century and Rohit Sharma’s fine half-century helped MI chase it down in just 18 overs.
The current season has been slightly better for Agarwal who managed 196 runs in 14 matches for PBKS last year.
Former India cricketer and now a popular commentator Sanjay Manjrekar feels that Agarwal could revive his career with a move to four-time IPL champions Chennai Super Kings.
“My heart goes out to Mayank Agarwal. India player, a class player but has just lost his way in the IPL playing for different franchises over the years. Was thrust with the responsibility of captaincy and it just put him off a little bit,” Manjrekar told Star Sports.
“Just hoping and praying that someday he will come into the CSK because if he is there in that culture, he is going to flourish. MS Dhoni wants players like him, batters like him who think team first. He is a pure heart and an exceptional player,” he added.
He was referring to CSK captain MS Dhoni’s recent comments on the qualities the franchise looks for in a player.
“I think we need to figure out and pick players who are team first – not bothered about individual performance and perform the best at knockout stages. It is difficult to judge from the outside, we tryand adjust to the players and environment as well. Even if they come 10%, we can adjust 50% to fit them better into the team,” Dhoni had said after CSK’s clinical win over Delhi Capitals on Saturday.
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