INDIA BLUE's opener Mayank Agarwal was batting on 92 when he charged down the track for a might slog over long-on. The bowler in question was India Red's left-arm chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav, who had cleverly deceived him in flight and left the opener stranded half way down the track. Under the circumstances, it was a rather tepid end to a promising innings. The disappointment was evident on Mayank's face when he walked back to the pavilion. He had set his sights on a century, when a rare moment of indiscretion did him in. What would have hurt Mayank even more was the fact that he had just stepped out and smacked Kuldeep for a six just two deliveries prior to his dismissal. “I was looking to be positive against him. I wanted to dominate him. But in the end, it was one shot too many,” the 25-year-old said. Barring the brief period prior to his dismissal on Day 2, Mayank had played percentage cricket, discarding his usual flair and opting for doggedness instead. Pacer Pradeep Sangwan had troubled him early with his away going deliveries. But Mayank held fort, and opened up at opportune moments to play some exquisite cover drives. Another feature in his innings was the ease with which he had pulled off the pull shots. A Virender Sehwag fan, the Bangalore lad has already established his reputation as a stroke-maker of rare pedigree. However, it his inability to convert, or be more precise, his failure to string together consistent three-figure scores that is hurting him. In 19 first-class games, spanning 32 innings, he has registered only a solitary ton. At the same time, he has seven half centuries to his name. This summed up the Karnataka opener's poor conversion rate. Despite his inability to get past the three-figure mark, Mayank chose to delve on the positives, and conceded he was in the middle of a good batting form. “The disappointment notwithstanding, I am happy that I am batting well. I am getting into good positions, so I am currently in a good frame of mind,” he explained. Like his captain Gautam Gambhir, Mayank too played down the hype surrounding the pink ball, and said the whole experience was just “mind over matter”. He insisted batting was a lot easier with the pink ball as compared to the traditional red ball. “The pink ball did move under the lights, but it is a little heavier than the traditional red ball. And after 12-15 overs, it came on to the bat nicely,” he said. Mayank also heaped praise on Kuldeep Yadav, and said it was a challenge facing him under lights because of the drift and his impeccable control on length, which troubled India Blue's batsmen on the final session on Day 2.
