Mayank Agarwal: Punjab Kings were one of the most active teams in the pre-IPL 2022 mega auction. They made some interesting picks in the auction. Having just made two retentions before the mega auction of 2022, the Kings rebuilt their entire squad in their hunt for a maiden IPL title.
The finalists of 2014 could not make it to the playoffs of the tournament for the last 8 editions of the game.
Mayank Agarwal went on to be the 13th captain of his then-current franchise, the Punjab Kings. Mayank proved his worth as a batsman for the Kings from 2019–2021 but failed miserably both as a batsman and a captain despite several big additions like Livingstone and Rabada.
Now with the release of Mayank Agarwal, we will look at his strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) both as a batsman and captain.
Strengths
- Mayank Agarwal has a blistering strike rate playing in the Powerplay, handy in powerplay overs to give his team an aggressive start.
- Flexible at batting in all positions from Opening to the middle order.
- Known for playing gorgeous square cut and classy late cut.
- He Punches good-length balls on the backfoot through covers.
- A good player of spin- comes down the track and sweeps equally well against spinners.
- As a captain, he can take command of batting for his team in tough batting conditions and score runs up the order to boost his team morale ( when in form).
Weaknesses
- Very frail against Short Deliveries – Mayank has always had a bad go at short-pitched deliveries and bouncers. He mostly gives away his wicket top edging short pitch deliveries targeted at his shoulders or above.
- Inswingers- Mayank Agarwal has failed miserably to balls angling into the body.
- Outswingers on fuller length – We often found him knicking wide balls and getting caught behind the wickets.
- Batting Stance- Mayank’s forward bend batting stance provides him less exposure to shots of the backfoot thus cramping him in bouncy pitches.
- Captaincy or leadership prefers International experience and Mayank has no such experience internationally in limited-overs cricket.
Opportunities
- Teams like SRH and GT can give a better role in their lineup to Mayank than his last franchise. Mayank opening alongside Dhawan always had to be the aggressive partner among the two which is not the case when playing with someone like Gill or Abhishek Sharma. This will be a both-way attack which can give him some time to settle down.
- Opening batting spot- The opening spot is where Mayank has impressed the most playing with a formidable and trustworthy batting partner.
- Representing Karnataka domestically, he often plays in the Karnataka State cricket association stadium and Chinnaswamy both tracks being suitable for batting. Accustomed to such tracks Agarwal is good to score in tracks with good carry.
- SRH can also have captaincy regard for Mayank as they have no other experienced man than Bhuvi in their squad. The balanced lineup of the SRH can provide better options as a captain for Mayank.
Threats
- His release from the Punjab Kings’ side just after one disappointing season, despite performing well with the bat for the last 2-3 seasons can bring down his confidence as a player.
- No experience in international limited-overs cricket, having played only 5 ODIs and yet to make his T20 International debut.
- Mayank Agarwal’s non-involvement in international cricket cumbers him from predicting other international players’ recent form, strengths or weaknesses. This hinders him from using his players as per their merit as a captain thus lowering his worth as a captain to an IPL franchise containing several international giants.
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