WTC Final: 3 reasons why Mayank Agarwal should have played ahead of Shubman Gill

The World Test Championship (WTC) final finally saw a winner after rain threatened to play spoilsport throughout the clash at Southampton.

New Zealand outplayed India in all departments of the game to notch up a convincing eight-wicket victory to emerge as champions of the inaugural ICC event.

With the Test wrapped up, India is now gearing up for a grueling five-match Test series against England, and while at it, the think-tank will also be taking a look at the notes from the WTC final.

As far as opinion goes, India's playing XI has been widely discussed on social media, and Shubman Gill received a fair bit of criticism for his average outing.

Could India have slotted in Mayank Agarwal instead? The Karnataka batsman was part of the squad but was omitted from the 15-member side selected for the WTC final.

We look at three reasons why Agarwal was a better fit to partner Rohit Sharma at the top.

---

#1 Agarwal scored more runs in the WTC league phase

Mayank Agarwal was fourth on the list of Indian batters to score the most runs in the WTC league phase. He stacked up 857 runs from 12 matches at an average of 42.85.

The numbers are a stark contrast to Gill - 414 runs from eight matches at an average of 31.84. This gives Agarwal a slight edge over the young Punjab batsman.

---

#2 Agarwal comes on the back of a good run in the IPL

The paused IPL 2021 saw Agarwal rack up 260 runs from seven games and also stand in for KL Rahul as captain for their last match against the Delhi Capitals before the tournament came to a halt.

He averaged a healthy 43.33, and a chance in the playing XI would have seen him continue in the same vein against a formidable Kiwi bowling attack.

---

#3 His ability to blend caution with aggression

Much of this ability comes with the experience the opener has had. His game awareness and his ability to drop anchor or be an aggressor has been one of his main strengths.

This would have probably made him a better option to open with Sharma.

---

- Yuvraj Singh, in an exclusive interview with SK