Punjab Kings captain Mayank Agarwal’s extraordinary run within the new Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 season continued because the senior opener fell for five on a very good batting pitch on the Brabourne Stadium in Match 16 towards Gujarat Titans on Friday.
Mayank Agarwal struggled to get going after Gujarat captain Hardik Pandya gained the toss and despatched Punjab into bat. Eventually, it was Hardik, who seems fitter and stronger on his return to aggressive cricket, who acquired the wicket of Mayank with a well-directed bouncer as early as his first over.
Mayank started with 3 dot balls and acquired off the mark with a scratchy chip over mid-off towards Mohammed Shami. However, the bounce from Hardik shocked him within the 2nd over as he tried to drag it into the stands, solely managing to get caught contained in the 30-yard circle.
Mayank regarded dejected because the stress is mounting on the Punjab Kings captain, who took over KL Rahul after being retained by the previous finalists.
A piece of cricket followers aced the meme sport as they highlighted the dip in Mayank’s kind within the IPL since taking up the captain’s armband.
Mayank Agarwal after taking captaincy pic.twitter.com/qiIxLlvypX
— ??.619 (@midhun_vignesh) April 8, 2022
Mayank Agarwal after taking captaincy pic.twitter.com/qiIxLlvypX
— ??.619 (@midhun_vignesh) April 8, 2022
Mayank Agarwal after enjoying 5 balls: pic.twitter.com/D0hPrZwK5Z
— Manraj Singh???? (@natumjanonahum8) April 8, 2022
Mayank Agarwal shouldering batting tasks for #PBKS be like.#PBKSvGT #IPL2022 #TATAIPL2022 pic.twitter.com/zlTZ5R2g2u
— Rohit.Pandey (@rohitPandeyy) April 8, 2022
Mayank has scored solely 42 runs in 4 matches in IPL 2022, which incorporates the 32 he acquired towards Royal Challengers Bangalore of their opening match. Ever since Mayank has gotten out for 1 (vs KKR) and 4 (vs CSK).
Mayank had scored in extra of 400 runs within the final 2 seasons for PBKS, enjoying the position of an aggressor in his opening stands with Rahul. He scored in extra of 156 in 2022 and 140 in 2021.
Earlier within the day, former India opener Virender Sehwag, who had led the Punjab facet previously, opined that the burden of captaincy is affecting Mayank’s batting within the new season.
“No matter how he captains the side, he has a really good bowling line-up that can control proceedings. Mayank’s batting has been affected ever since he has become the captain,” Sehwag informed Cricbuzz.
Despite Mayank’s failures with the bat on the prime of the order, Punjab started the IPL 2022 season with 2 wins from 3 matches. In reality, PBKS scored 180 and hammered Chennai Supeer Kings regardless of Mayank getting out early.
