[Watch] Mayank Agarwal trains hard ahead of 2nd IND vs SL 2022 Test
Indian opener Mayank Agarwal is putting in the hard yards ahead of the second Test against Sri Lanka, which will be played at his home ground, the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, starting on March 12.
The 31-year-old took to his Instagram stories to share a couple of his workout videos. Both involved lifting weights with the peppy song "Hall of Fame" playing in the background. India Women's Cricket World Cup game against New Zealand was on the gym's television. Wicketkeeper-batter KS Bharat and middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer were also seen working out behind him. You can watch the clips here.
The right-hander also shared a group photo, presumably after the gym session, with Bharat, Iyer, Rishabh Pant, the team's strength and conditioning coach Soham Desai and trainer Vivek Ramakrishna. You can check that out here.
India batted only once and won the first Test against Sri Lanka in Mohali by an innings and 222 runs. Mayank scored a decent 49-ball 33, including five boundaries, but got out lbw off Lasith Embuldeniya's bowling against the run of play.
Ready to take off! https://t.co/oKkvQjZIK8
This was his sixth straight failure to cross 50 since he made 123-ball 60 in the first Test against South Africa in December last year. With KL Rahul most likely to take his opening spot back when he returns, the upcoming home Test will be the new Punjab Kings skipper's last opportunity in a while to secure his position as the reserve opener.
"Mayank Agarwal has failed to show that much consistency" - Parthiv Patel
Bengaluru
Mohali ✈️ Bengaluru
Pink-ball Test, here we come 🙌
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Recently, former India wicketkeeper-batter Parthiv Patel also weighed in on the opener's inconsistency, saying he needs to make the most of whatever limited chances he gets through injuries to first-choice players.
Patel told Cricbuzz:
"The kind of options that this Indian team has, it is important to make the most of opportunities. Not every time will a player be injured. Mayank Agarwal has failed to show that much consistency. He scored a hundred against New Zealand and then had an inconsistent run in South Africa. Since there are many options, it is important to score big whenever you get an opportunity."
Shubman Gill, Prithvi Shaw, Abhimanyu Easwaran and Priyank Panchal are four of the many options available with India for the opening spot.
If Mayank fares poorly in Bengaluru, it might force him behind Gill in the pecking order. The day-night Test will kick off at 2:00 pm IST on Saturday.