Ranji Trophy 2019-20: R Samarth heaps praise on Mayank Agarwal; says playing with national players is motivating

What's the story?

Karnataka's 26-year-old opening batsman, Ravikumar Samarth has appreciated the recent form of his teammate, Mayank Agarwal. Besides, he even talked about his own form in the domestic cricket and also revealed if he is under pressure to perform.

The background

Samarth made his first-class debut for Karnataka in 2013. He has played 58 first-class matches in the last six years, scoring 3,648 runs at an average of 39.22. The right-handed batsman has recorded nine hundreds and seven half-centuries in his first-class career. The highlight of his career was the 2017-18 Ranji Trophy season where he amassed 673 runs for his state.

It seemed like he would soon follow the footsteps of his fellow Karnataka mates KL Rahul, Manish Pandey and Karun Nair towards the national team however, a disastrous outing in the previous Ranji Trophy edition has obstructed his way. On the other side, his teammate Mayank Agarwal has taken giant strides in the international arena. Agarwal's consistent performances have placed him at the 12th spot in ICC Test rankings.

Also see – BPL Schedule

The heart of the matter

Talking to Cricbuzz ahead of Karnataka's match third round match against Himachal Pradesh, Samarth mentioned that he is just one big inning away from finding his feet back. He said,

"It's all about spending some time in the middle. Playing one session would be very useful. It's just a matter of getting to that 30 and then building on. It's a matter of that one big innings."

When asked if he was under pressure after his disappointing performances despite being a senior player, the opener replied,

"Not really. When you have been part of the side for seven years you know that you are a big part of the team and you are responsible for the team."

The Karnataka star, who has played for India A, draws inspiration from the success of his teammates. Exemplifying the journeys of KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal, Samarth said,

"It's motivating to play with these guys because they come from national duty and give the state team their everything. Mayank keeps scoring and has been over the past two years. It's insane. He keeps working hard. I see that. Even KL (Rahul) brings that presence of calmness to the team."

What's next?

Karnataka could only score 166 runs in their first innings against Himachal Pradesh. Samarth scored 4 runs in the innings while Mayank was dismissed for a golden duck. The Karnataka bowlers picked up 3 wickets before the day ended. It will be intriguing to see if Karnataka can keep Himachal Pradesh down.