“Create a bubble and stay in that safe space” – Robin Uthappa’s advice to struggling Mayank Agarwal

Former India batsman Robin Uthappa feels that out-of-form opener Mayank Agarwal will come back strongly after he addresses certain issues that have crept up in his game.

Mayank Agarwal was dropped in favor of Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill for the third Test against Australia in Sydney, after having managed a high score of only 17 in the first two Tests.

Speaking to Sportskeeda’s Indranil Basu in an SK Live session on Facebook, Uthappa advised the opener to stay in the present and understand the issues he needs to address. He said:

“To Mayank I would say that, create a bubble and stay in that safe space. Understand what you need to work on. Address those issues and take one step at a time. Don’t get ahead of yourself. Stay in the present.”

Expressing confidence in Mayank Agarwal ‘s ability, Uthappa continued:

“He is someone who has earned that Test cap the hard way. He earned his stripes in domestic cricket, worked his way up. And, once he hit that purple patch, he maximized it into fine form. He has become a player of reckoning. Someone who has scored an IPL hundred, and bats really well.

“So, you can’t take those things away from anybody. Just because you don’t play a game well or you have issues without your technique at this point in time, doesn’t mean that stays forever. So, you address it and then you move forward. You know that the opportunity will come again.”

The width of Mayank Agarwal’s stance has become wider: Robin Uthappa

Uthappa spoke about Mayank Agarwal’s prominent high backlift, which has come in for a lot of criticism. He said it is an issue that the 29-year-old needs to address.

Uthappa also believed that playing with the pink ball in Adelaide did not help Mayank Agarwal as opener. The 35-year-old further elaborated:

“There is possibly a reason he has stuck to what he has. It must be feeling good (about the backlift). But, I think that problem in that second Test match is the fact was it (the first Test) was the pink ball Test [sic]. And the pink ball does a way lot more than what the red ball does. It skids on a lot more. There hasn’t been enough Test matches played with the pink ball to understand how to tackle it as a batting unit. We’ve missed that point completely as far as Mayank is concerned.”

Uthappa was of the opinion that Mayank Agarwal should revisit his technique. He pointed out:

“I think it’s just the timing of the initial movement. The width of his stance has become wider. That happens when you have good form and you stick to something. I think that has crept in. With the amount of cricket that we play today, it is important to be vigilant about these little aspects of your own game.”

Mayank Agarwal made his debut for India in the Boxing Day Test of 2018. He has featured in 13 Tests so far, and has 1005 runs at an average of 47.85, with three hundreds and four fifties.

Published 09 Jan 2021, 18:31 IST