Mayank Agarwal has been garnering praises from all quarters for his exploits in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL). Opening the innings for King XI Punjab (KXIP), the right-hander has registered the scores of 89, 26 and 106 so far.

Agarwal has also formed a brilliant partnership with Kings XI skipper and his best friend KL Rahul at the top. The duo shared a 183-run stand for the first wicket against Rajasthan Royals, which is the second-highest opening stand in the history of IPL.

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In an exclusive chat with ANI, Mayank reflected on his success and said starting this season as a proven international cricketer has given him a lot of confidence.

"Playing for the country has given me a lot of confidence and I enjoy the responsibility. I don't think it has changed the position a lot in KXIP as we have top-class cricketers here. From the word go Anil bhai (Kumble) and KL (Rahul) have been clear about what role they want each of us to play. It just makes it easier," he stated.

Agarwal was cautious at the start while scoring 89 against Delhi Capitals, but he smashed the ball from word go during his 50-ball 106 versus Royals.

Asked if he has a plan in mind going into bat, Mayank said: "I think the first game, the wicket wasn't the easiest to bat and the new ball was doing a bit. So, the plan was to play out the new ball without taking wickets and then take it from there. After KL got out, wickets kept falling so I tried to take the game deep and that worked. In the third game, it was more about assessing the situation and doing what is right for the team.”

"Very honestly I think every wicket is different and I don't think going with a preconceived notion does help anyone. Yes, the weather is hot and so the wickets would be spinning. But every wicket is different. And we have seen that in the games that have been played, a few of the wickets are assisting pace bowling while a few are really good to bat on," he explained.

Some of the top batsmen are struggling to get going in the IPL 2020 after a lengthy COVID-19 hiatus but Mayank Agarwal has looked fluent from the first game.

Sharing the secret of his success, the opener said: "A lot of training at home. Luckily, my elder brother had barbells and weights at home. I was training a lot at home and as soon as the lockdown was lifted, I called up RX (Murali) sir and both of us would go to his academy and we would practice. We used to train there and made sure we kept doing the right things and work on areas I needed to improve on."

"I had got good feedback from the New Zealand series and the Indian team coaches had also said look to work on these things. So, whatever they had said, we worked on it and it is reaping benefits today," he further remarked.

Mayank also showered rich praise on KXIP captain KL Rahul, who is leading the runs tally in this year’s IPL so far with 22 runs to his name.

"He is definitely an extraordinary player. The kind of innings he produces and the performances he puts out is simply fabulous. No question about how good a player he is. We are best friends so makes it nicer to be playing together. We understand each other's game and enjoy batting with each other. We have seen it makes it so much easier and a lot more fun batting with him.

"As a captain, he is very calm and composed and is a very positive person. He keeps backing the players and communicates really well. Another very good thing is the way he empowers the people around him and trusts them to go out there and do well. Freedom to express ourselves is great. We are playing really good cricket under him," Agarwal said.

(With ANI inputs)