Former Indian cricketer and commentator, Sanjay Manjrekar, said that Mayank Agarwal is a very nice guy and this game isn’t for such players after the batter was released by the Punjab Kings (PBKS) ahead of the upcoming IPL 2023 auction to be held in Kochi on December 23.
Agarwal was the PBKS captain in the IPL 2022, where the franchise finished sixth on the points table. However, the Indian cricketer had a poor season, scoring only 196 runs in 13 matches at an average of 16.33, and that may play a role in PBKS not retaining him for the next season.
Sanjay Manjrekar said on Star Sports: “See, it's a very interesting case with Mayank Agarwal, for one, the price tag doesn't help when you've had a bad season. There's a temptation of releasing that player and using that money to maybe rebuy or you know, look at another option. But the thing about Mayank Agarwal. Too much of a nice guy, and this game is not for nice guys.”
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The commentator continued, “I mean he had a phenomenal couple of seasons at the top of the order with KL Rahul. He actually out-batted KL Rahul at the top position, and became the captain and ideally, you would want one more year for a guy to prove himself. And the worst thing that could have happened to him was that he sacrificed his opening position where he was phenomenal, and went down the order.”
Manjrekar signed off by saying, “Which meant that batting became more difficult and the runs didn't come, the pressure built up. So, I feel sorry for him, but he'll be a very very attractive proposition for teams looking for an opener, because this is the guy who'll get you big scores and at a strike rate of 150, 160 and is good against both spin and pace.”
Punjab Kings Retained Players: Shikhar Dhawan, Shahrukh Khan, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh, Harpreet Brar, Raj Angad Bawa, Prabhsimran Singh, Rishi Dhawan, Jitesh Sharma, Baltej Singh Dhanda, Atharva Taide, Liam Livingstone, Kagiso Rabada, Jonny Bairstow, Nathan Ellis, Bhanuka Rajapakse.
Released Players: Mayank Agarwal, Odean Smith, Vaibhav Arora, Benny Howell, Ishan Porel, Ansh Patel, Prerak Mankad, Sandeep Sharma, Writtick Chatterjee.
