The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 witnessed a lot of great performances from many emerging stars, whereas some renowned names could not do well. However, the new team Gujarat Titans clinched the title under Hardik Pandya. However, Punjab Kings could not find consistency and did not qualify for the playoffs too as well. The Mayank Agarwal-led team looked strong on paper after the mega-auction but finished sixth in the points table with seven wins in 14 games as well. And, the captain Mayank Agarwal, who took over the reins from KL Rahul, also failed to contribute.
Mayank scored only 196 runs in 13 games which came at an average of just 16.33. He scored only one half-century. “If we talk about Mayank, I felt that ‘What has happened to him?’ He is such a good player. After getting captaincy, I think he was mentally under pressure. From opening he went down to No. 4. The team was being led from the outside. He is just taking everything. He seemed suffocated. He should have been given freedom. He has been under the radar and surely that could have been a little better,” Harbhajan Singh told Sportskeeda Cricket when he was asked to pick the ‘most shocking moment’ of IPL 2022.
ALSO READ: Gary Kirsten applauds Hardik Pandya, calls him ‘Incredibly humble’
Earlier, former India spinner Piyush Chawla has also felt that the captaincy has affected Mayank’s batting, saying that “captaincy isn’t for everyone”. Mayank Agarwal also replaced KL Rahul as Punjab Kings’ captain prior to the IPl 2022. After scoring 441 runs at an average of 40.09 in IPL 2021, the opener batter could not replicate the success as well.
ALSO READ: “I’ve always enjoyed his company no matter what” – Hardik Pandya on Ashish Nehra
“The way he performed (last year), they (Punjab Kings) showed a lot of trust in him, retained him too but he couldn’t stand true to it. I don’t think he had much prior experience of captaincy whether in domestic cricket or with India ‘A’ and that was visible here. The pressure of captaincy is different and it was clearly visible in his batting as well as how he used to look a bit edgy on the field. Captaincy isn’t for everyone and it showed clearly here,” Piyush Chawla said during an interaction on ESPNcricinfo.
