Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra believes Mayank Agarwal is wasting his opportunities at the top of the order.
Agarwal had a great chance to lay his claim by scoring big against Sri Lanka in the two-match Test series. However, the right-hander could not get a big score under his belt and he would be disappointed with the same.
Agarwal had got off to start in the first Test match as he scored 33 runs but could not convert the same into a big score. Subsequently, he was run-out after scoring only four runs in the first innings of the second Test match. The Karnataka batter once again got off to a start in the second dig as he scored 22 runs but once again could not get a big score.
It was a great opportunity for Agarwal to grab his chance as an opener in the absence of KL Rahul. Furthermore, Shubman Gill is also waiting in the wings for his opportunity.
Meanwhile, Agarwal has done well in the Indian conditions whereas he hasn’t been able to get going in the foreign countries. However, he was not able to deliver the goods against Sri Lanka.
Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube Channel, “Mayank Agarwal is wasting his opportunities. You didn’t play well in Kanpur, it was being felt that you might not play in Mumbai but got to play because of injuries and scored a lot of runs, which is fantastic.”
“Then you go to South Africa, you play one good knock and then the situation becomes topsy-turvy. You come to India and get out in the first match and both innings here. KL Rahul is sitting out, you have not scored those many runs that when the next Test match happens and KL Rahul is available, you are played.”
The renowned commentator reckons that Agarwal not grabbing his chances will be a problem for Agarwal. In fact, Agarwal had a great opportunity to get a big score in Mohali, where the pitch wasn’t difficult.
“It is going to be a problem. It was a chance, you have let it go. There were better chances to score runs in Mohali but that didn’t happen. Here the conditions were slightly difficult – you got run out in the first innings and got dismissed in the second innings.”
“So I am slightly concerned about Mayank Agarwal but I am extremely impressed with Rohit Sharma. Although he scored only 46 runs but that is a lot of runs on this pitch, it is like 86 on any other pitch. The way he played was absolutely sensational, he had a game plan.”
