Rocketing towards an India cap, run-machine Mayank Agarwal 'trying to stay in the present'

Exactly 15 years ago, a 29-year-old Sachin Tendulkar, without facing a single delivery in the nets (as one legend goes), stacked up a mammoth 673 runs in a single edition of the World Cup in 2003, the highest aggregate in a 50-over tournament by a single batsman.

Just a few weeks ago, an enterprising right-hander, who self-admittedly started playing the game because of Sachin, overtook the long-standing record by amassing 723 runs in eight games, starring in Karnataka's victorious Vijay Hazare Trophy campaign.

As his ultimate dream, he wishes to earn the same glory for India as the Little Master did at the Wankhede in 2011, eight years after his run-scoring spree in South Africa.

Mayank Agarwal's name has been a hot topic of discussion on social media; the sudden spurt in run-flow from the 27-year-old's bat has caught everyone by surprise, especially those who have seen him feature in the IPL since 2011, but never don the India jersey.

This time, however, his omission from the Indian team, despite bathing in buckets of batting form, has been more baffling, especially with a young team travelling to Sri Lanka for the Nidahas Trophy, sans the Kohlis and Dhonis.

Sportskeeda had caught up with the serial record-breaker just days before the start of the Karnataka Premier League last year; post the tournament, he turned a switch and elevated his game to such levels that he has now stockpiled a jaw-dropping 2141 runs this season across all formats until the end of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, an India record.

The same author interacted with the former U-19 World Cup batsman, in a bid to understand what changed him into a run-churning machine in a span of a few months.

This might be turning into a repetitive question for you, but what brought about such a drastic change in your fortunes? What is a more mental shift than an actual tweak in your game?

I brought a lot of understanding into my own game - it has got a lot to do with self-awareness and getting the mental patterns right. That's something we (coach R Muralidhar) did in the off-season and achieved through situational-based training (which included playing on astroturfs, facing spinners on muddy surfaces, or playing on green tops to enhance his batting in different conditions).

Surprisingly, you started off on the wrong foot, with a pair against Hyderabad. How did you put that failure behind you? How do you keep yourself motivated to start from scratch when you score a hundred in order to keep going further?

Even when I got those two zeroes, I told myself that there is nothing worse that could happen. I somehow kept my mind positive and looked at the positive side of things, and whatever is going to happen from that point onwards will be good.

But honestly, I did not expect to score a 300 in the next game!

With experience, you come to learn and understand that you need to make sure when you're batting well, you score big. I just needed to get a big score after I got a pair because I knew how it felt scoring those two ducks.

Every time I batted well, I constantly reminded myself how it felt getting the pair and made sure that I scored as much as I could.

What has been your support system through all of this? The engagement in January must also have helped!

(Chuckles). Yeah, I would like to thank my family - my parents, grandparents, my elder brother, coach RX (Muralidhar), and also the team management (Karnataka side).

The team gave me true guidance when I required it the most after those two ducks - it was really helpful having R Vinay Kumar, KL Rahul and the rest during that time.

How do you manage to focus amidst all the noise regarding the India cap? Have you spoken with MSK Prasad, or any of selection committee members?

Yes, there has been a talk, but I would respect the dialogue and keep it between the two of us.

There are so many tournaments to look forward to, I love playing games, and my immediate goal, after the Vijay Hazare Trophy win, is the Deodhar Trophy that follows. The aim is to focus on the job at hand and try and stay in the present as much as possible.

Mayank has played for multiple IPL franchises

You've mentioned before that, as professionals, it is not difficult changing franchises in T20s. Playing for a new team this season in the IPL, what mental adjustment is needed, and what are your goals, looking ahead?

First of all, I am really excited to be part of the Kings XI Punjab. We are going to have a pre-season camp before the IPL begins that will help us handle a lot of things and understand a lot of aspects of the side.

I like to keep my targets and goals to myself because I believe that is something personal.

But before we start with the IPL, I have to play the Deodhar Trophy, and then the Irani Cup for the Rest of India, so the focus is on that first, and the key is to take it day by day, as it comes.

Starting March 4, Mayank will play for Karnataka in the Deodhar Trophy.