Flop ODI XI of the year 2020

2. Mayank Agarwal

From one ultra-aggressive opening batsman, the onus now shifts on to a player who has proven to be slightly more versatile in his approach. Mayank Agarwal’s consistent run of domestic form across all formats of the game saw him get fast-tracked into the Indian national setup in 2019. And while his prowess in Tests has been impressive, one cannot quite say the same about ODIs.

To be fair, the Karnataka opener had a short sample space of just 5 matches as have most other batsmen, owing to the COVID-19 complications this year. But in the absence of Rohit Sharma, Mayank was expected to play a stand-in job of someone who could stabilize the innings at the top.

Sadly, he couldn’t really live up to job, as his run tally of 86 runs (averaging 17.20) would suggest. His strike-rate of 103.61 was far too uncharacteristic for an opener who is usually at his brutal best in the IPL.

It’s still too early to evaluate how effective Mayank will turn out to be for the Indian white-ball team, considering his limited experience in the blue jersey. For the time being, though, he and the Indian team would be more concerned about their form in whites so as to not relive the horror-show they endured in Adelaide last week.