IPL 2021: KL Rahul reveals the reason behind Mayank Agarwal’s omission from the PBKS vs RCB match

After playing six matches in the 2021 Indian Premier League (IPL) Mayank Agarwal couldn’t make the cut for the game against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on Friday, April 30 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Instead of the right-hander, KL Rahul’s Punjab Kings (PBKS) went with Prabhsimran Simran as the other opener. PBKS are in a bit of a tangle, having lost four of their first six matches.

Apart from Agarwal, the Punjab-based team made two more changes, bringing in Harpreet Brar and Riley Meredith for Moises Henriques and Arshdeep Singh.  In the meantime, Rahul, the PBKS skipper, updated on Mayank, saying that the latter missed out due to an injury that he sustained during the game against Eoin Morgan’s Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in Ahmedabad itself.

KL Rahul shares an update

“We have always found ourselves in this position, we just have to go out there and put up a show tonight. We have three changes. Henriques and Arshdeep are out; Mayank is not feeling too well as he got hit in the last game. Meredith, Prabhsimran, and Harpreet are in,” Rahul said during the coin toss.

Rahul also stated that inconsistent performances have been a roadblock thus far in the team’s progress in the tournament. He also hoped for the left-handed Chris Gayle to score a century against his former IPL team.

“It’s (inconsistency) something we have spoken about. We are a young group of guys except for Chris, but it’s important that we learn from our mistakes. I hope so (a century for Gayle),” he added.

In the tournament, Gayle has scored a couple of 40s, both of which have come in winning causes. As far as the Challengers are concerned, they left out Washington Sundar for Shahbaz Ahmed. The 32-year-old Virat Kohli, the RCB skipper, highlighted the importance of having enough bowling options, giving him ‘comfort and space’.

“Even when you win games, you need to rectify stuff. We have stepped in with six or seven bowling options each game, so that gives me a lot of comfort and space. The bowlers have been on their mark, all credit to them,” he mentioned.