Karnataka won its maiden Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy title on Thursday.
Indian batsman Mayank Agarwal is eyeing to carry his late stunning Syed Mushtaq Ali form into the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) 2019 with the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP).
Agarwal scored a quickfire 85 not out in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2019 Final against Maharashtra on Thursday (March 14) to help Karnataka to clinch their maiden title at Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore.
In the just-concluded Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament, the right-hander has been in sublime form with the willow having amassed 267 runs in his 10 outings in the 2018-19 season with the highest score of unbeaten 85 off 57 balls, which helped Karnataka to clinch their maiden title on 14 March.
The 28-year-old has given a glimpse of what he is capable to do in the Twenty20 cricket just one week before the start of the IPL 2019 and he is hoping to take this form into the tournament.
Agarwal told media after the match, “I hadn't been getting as many runs during the league stages but I am happy that I made a comeback and got a lot of runs in the knockouts. Under lights the balls started to come nicely onto the bat and we made full use of it. I am happy that I have got some runs under my belt, and I hope I can take this confidence into the IPL.”
Meanwhile, the Karnataka bowlers did a brilliant job with the ball in Indore by restricting Maharashtra for 155/4 and then Rohan Kadam (60) and Man of the Match Agarwal’s crucial 92-run stand for the second wicket power the side cross the line inside 18.2 overs at the expense of just 2 wickets.
Agarwal signed off by saying, “I thought we did extremely well to restrict them to that total. The talk in the dressing room is all about winning tournaments and we all as a team try and work hard to win at least one or two tournaments every year. We are happy that we ended on a high.”
(With Cricketnext Inputs)