MATCH STORIES
Follow UsSunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) have one of the most feared batting units in the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL), with Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Aiden Markram and Heinrich Klaasen in their top five. These four are as dangerous as they come and we all witnessed the amount of damage they can cause when SRH amassed 277 against Mumbai Indians last week.
Then there is Mayank Agarwal who hasn’t been able to match the standards set by the aforementioned four. The 33-year-old has been Hyderabad’s slowest batter in the ongoing season, scoring 59 runs across three innings at an average of 19.66 and a strike rate of 115.68.
And this has been an issue with his batting for a while now.
When Hyderabad went crazy against Mumbai at Uppal, Agarwal struggled big time and could only manage 11 off 13. He had a strike rate of 84.62 in the innings where three of the five batters went at more than 235. Even on March 31 (Sunday) against Gujarat Titans, Agarwal took 17 deliveries to score 16 runs.
The right-hander was up against Azmatullah Omarzai and Umesh Yadav in the powerplay. The two bowlers you wouldn’t call a great threat with the new ball in this format. Agarwal was constantly getting himself into wrong positions, while Head at the other end was timing the ball like a dream.
By the end of four overs, Agarwal was on 16 off 15, taking the majority of the strike. Meanwhile, Head was operating at a strike rate of almost 180 but only got to face nine deliveries. Agarwal’s struggling knock finally came to an end in the fifth over when he mistimed a shot to the fielder at backward square leg.
Now, how long do SRH persist with him? In IPL since 2022, Agarwal has scored only 525 runs in 26 games at an average of 21 and a strike rate of 124.7. His strike rate in the powerplay in this period has been just 126.35, which is the third-worst for a batter with at least 300 runs in this phase since 2022.
KL Rahul (110.5) and Shikhar Dhawan (126) are the only ones with a lower strike rate but at least they have scored runs, averaging close to 40. In his last 26 games, only six times has Agarwal crossed the 30-run mark. What’s more, the right-handed batter from Karnataka has nine scores below 10 in this period.
What’s surprising are his numbers against spin — 11 dismissals in 16 innings, with an average of 13.64 and a strike rate of 112.78. Agarwal, who was once one of the best Indian batters against spin bowling, is now one of the worst. Amongst batters who have faced at least 100 deliveries of spin since 2022, Agarwal has the worst average and balls/dismissal (12.1).
At his peak, Agarwal had an average of 34.2 and a strike rate of 146.2 between IPL 2019 to 2021. In this period, he had a strike rate of 153.85 against spin. He was not only scoring runs but was doing it at a great pace. Fast forward to 2024, he is doing neither and that is hurting SRH’s batting ideology.
Head has a strike rate of 240.6 in the powerplay this season, while Abhishek has gone about his business at 216. And with Markram and Klassen to follow, the Sunrisers can’t have someone like Agarwal who is simply wasting balls in the powerplay.
You can’t even call him an anchor considering he has been averaging close to 20. Even Shahbaz Ahmed (SR 152) and Abdul Samad (SR 176) down the order have been in great hitting form.
In the last Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, playing for Karnataka, Agarwal managed only 126 runs at a strike rate of 121.2. Hence, maybe it’s time for SRH to look for someone beyond him.
Rahul Tripathi is one option on the bench but his form hasn’t been great either. Anmolpreet Singh is decent but the ideal thing for SRH would be to bring in Sanvir Singh in the middle order and promote Abhishek one spot up.
Because at the moment, Agarwal is the only one stopping SRH from reaching their TRUE SCARY POTENTIAL.
