Selectors did inform about the intention behind my exclusion, says Mayank Agarwal 

Agarwal has been sacked from India's 18-man Test squad for the tour of Australia.

Mayank has done everything that's been asked of him and yet, is uncertain about his future | PTI

Having endured pain and rejection in recent times, right-hand batsman Mayank Agarwal is reluctant to reveal his actual reaction on the unforeseen sacking from India's Test squad for the tour of Australia but said that the members of the selection committee did speak and informed him about the intentions behind this sudden move. 

In an interesting case scenario, Agarwal, who was actually part of the squad for the 2-match home Test series against West Indies, got dropped on Friday, October 26, with the selectors deciding to give a comeback to Murali Vijay as one of the three openers, alongside KL Rahul and Prithvi Shaw, on the back of some really good form for Essex in the recently concluded county championship season in England. 

On the other hand, despite having been left out from the side earlier this year and no red-ball performances to fall back to, Rohit Sharma made a return to the Test side as well, with chief selector MSK Prasad clearing that it is the suitability of Rohit's game for the expected pace and bounce conducive surfaces down under, that was considered before drafting him back. 

But the move to drop Mayank, without giving him an opportunity, still came across as an injustice to the 27-year-old. 

Intimating that he does turn to his mentor "Rahul bhai (Dravid)," in such difficult times, Mayank further told TimesNow, "I am going to play to the best of my ability like I play every game of cricket."

Mayank, now part of India A's three unofficial Tests and three 50-over games tour to New Zealand, also gave an insight into his plans for the future, where he would consider trying his hand at bowling in a bid to gain an edge over other cricketers in the squad. 

 He said, "Yes I do bowl (off-spin) a bit but yes I am going to take it up seriously. I do make sure that I bowl about 45 minutes to an hour in the nets every day," and signed off.  

 
 

By Kashish Chadha - 30 Oct, 2018

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