IPL 2021 | Would have liked two points but we were ten runs short, admits Mayank Agarwal

In KL Rahul’s absence, Mayank Agarwal not only shouldered the responsibility but also stood as the pillar of the batting unit, with a 58-ball 99 on a tricky surface in Ahmedabad. Throughout the innings, around him, there were wickets falling in equal intervals, which caused the stand-in skipper to pace his innings accurately. 

Despite scoring 99, Mayank could only take his side to 166/6 after 20 overs, which was way below par on the wicket, which sped up during the second half of the encounter. In the post-match presentation, losing skipper Mayank Agarwal, who was also the player of the match, admitted that his side were ten runs short on that wicket. 

The Karnataka opener also revealed that he had to bat through the innings and rued the fact that the franchise could not make much of the middle-overs with the bat. Mayank also provided an update on KL Rahul’s injury, adding that he is ‘gone’ for surgery and hoped that the opener would make a swift return. 

“KL Rahul is going for a surgery and hopefully he should be back. Would've liked two points but I guess we were about 10 short on that wicket. And the kind of powerplay they had we really had to scrap and fight. One batsman has to bat through, that was my plan. It was my day, I took that responsibility. Unfortunately, we didn't get too many in the middle overs, even though we finished well,” Mayank admitted in the post-match presentation.  

While finishing up with the player of the match trophy, Mayank rued the fact that the personal accolade couldn’t come in a winning cause. He also insisted that captaincy is all about the ups and downs while crediting Harpreet Brar for yet another impressive display in a Punjab outfit. 

“Would have loved two points more than anything else. But it is what it is. We have to shut this off, turn up next game and do better. Managing the ups and downs is what captaincy's all about. Kudos to Harpreet who showed up for us today and last game as well, he also hit a crucial boundary. We need to keep at it and click as a team.”