Mayank Agarwal isn’t zeroing in as much on a Test rebound as he is on imitating the sort of Ranji Prize season he had in 2017-18, when he beat out everyone else with 1160 runs in 13 innings.

Agarwal isn’t essential for India’s Test visit through Bangladesh, having gotten through a downturn in structure throughout the course of recent months. This has matched with Shubman Gill and Abhimanyu Easwaran giving their very best to intrigue the selectors. Added to that is the way that he’s additionally been delivered by his IPL establishment, Punjab Lords, whom he captained recently.

It’s amidst this that Agarwal has been given Karnataka’s captaincy. The group arrived at the knockouts of both T20 and 50-overs rivalry. Presently, he’s set to lead them in the Ranji Prize, supplanting his contemporary Manish Pandey, who was taken out from the top work following a fair 2021-22 five star season where Karnataka missed out in the quarter-finals.

“I’ve been working on emulating what I did in 2017-18, when I had that good season. I’ve gone back a little bit, looked at those videos, gone through those game plans and worked around that. For me, that result or the end goal [India selection] will take care of itself. I want to look at my processes, areas I need to improve on and what I need to do to keep performing the way I was doing. And I back myself to deliver those performances.”

Agarwal said in Bengaluru, ahead of Karnataka’s Ranji opener against Services on Tuesday.

Agarwal has areas of strength for a line-up to rest on, with all of R Samarth, Devdutt Padikkal and Pandey in the blend. The main prominent non-attendant is Karun Nair, who has become undesirable with the selectors following a terrible run of structure that stretches back three seasons. Nonetheless, there were times during the last mission that he was by all accounts rediscovering his touch once more.

The selectors have compensated 22-year old Nikin Jose for his Vijay Hazare Prize structure – he was Karnataka’s driving run-getter, and Vishal Onat, who has had a heavenly spat age-bunch cricket. One of them could well be given an introduction cap on Tuesday.

As he assumes control over a youthful group in a change, Agarwal is aware of establishing a climate like the one of every 2013-14, when he got through to make his five star debut following quite a while of being categorized as a white-competitor.

“We have to keep encouraging them, create a good environment for them to flourish. They’re in the team because of the performances they have put in age-group cricket. Nikin did very well in the Vijay Hazare as well. We want him to continue that form. As a team, we want to have an atmosphere where they can come, learn, execute and flourish, put up match-winning performances for Karnataka and play for the country. I want to encourage them [youngsters], because they’ve put in performances. They’re skilled, they have the temperament and talent. We want to back them and help them learn. The environment we want to create in the team is one of wanting to win trophies, and we’re hungry for it.”

Agarwal said. 

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“The more we win and the more we enjoy each other’s success, that will come. Each of us has to be part of this environment, it’s not about one or two players coming in and creating that. If 20-25 of us create that, it will all stack up together. And when things stack up, results will take care of itself.”

he continued

Karnataka has missed the knockout stages for the past three seasons, winning the Ranji Trophy just once, in 2014-15.

They were defeated in the semi-finals by Saurashtra in 2018-19 and Bengal in 2019-20, respectively. Uttar Pradesh defeated them in the quarterfinals of the previous season. Agarwal does not wish for the team’s baggage of being nearly men to be a burden.

“We’ve spoken of the legacy [of Karnataka cricket] and realized if we keep thinking off winning, winning, winning all the time, it’s not going to happen. That said, we’ve spoken of how hungry we are, but we also have to make a plan and be adaptable. Be disciplined. If we can do that, with the skillsets we have, the results will take care of itself. We are determined to win, there are no two ways about it. We want to win trophies for Karnataka.”

Agarwal concluded

Formats, big names in participation, new players… our explainer gives you the lowdown on this season's #RanjiTrophy 🔽https://t.co/jusH6v0DuQ

— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) December 12, 2022