Like other franchises in the league, Punjab Kings (PBKS) have made a few changes to their squad busy rejigging their squad as they made a few changes to their side ahead of the auction scheduled to be held on December 23, in Kochi. Interestingly, they released Mayank Agarwal who led the side in the previous edition and former India cricketer, Sanjay Manjrekar opined that franchises looking for an opener will be interested to secure Mayank’s services at the upcoming auction.
Moreover, the side previously announced that veteran star Shikhar Dhawan is set to lead the team ahead of the new season. During a chat on Star Sports, Sanjay Manjrekar said, “See, it is a very interesting case with Mayank Agarwal, for one, the price tag does not help when you have had a bad season. There is a temptation of releasing that player and using that money to maybe rebuy or you know, look at another option.”
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He further added, “But the thing about Mayank Agarwal, too much of a nice guy, and this game is not for nice guys. I mean he had a phenomenal couple of seasons at the top of the order with KL Rahul. He actually out-batted KL Rahul at the top position, became the captain, and ideally you would want one more year for a guy to prove himself.”
Praising Mayank Agarwal, Sanjay Manjrekar, “And the worst thing that could have happened to him was that he sacrificed his opening position where he was phenomenal, and went down the order. This meant that batting became more difficult and the runs did not come, the pressure built up.”
He concluded by saying, “So, I feel sorry for him, but he will be a very very attractive proposition for teams looking for an opener, because this is the guy who will get you big scores and at a strike rate of 150, 160 and is good against both spin and pace.”
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Mayank Agarwal was the mainstay of the franchise’s top order but could only manage to score just 196 runs in 13 innings at an average of 16.33. With his exclusion, franchises will keep tabs on the opener and could secure his services at the auction.
