Ranji Trophy Semifinal 2023: Mayank Agarwal hits double century

Mayank Agarwal double century: Karnataka captain Mayank Agarwal hit a double century against Saurashtra on Thursday, putting his team in control of the second semifinal of the Ranji Trophy 2022-23 at the M. Chinnaswamy stadium. Agarwal faced the potent Saurashtra attack and battled it out alone for the home side after Karnataka were reduced to 112 for 5 on the first day.

The former Punjab Kings skipper Mayank Agarwal was not selected for the Border-Gavaskar series in favour of Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan. With the squad yet to be announced for the final two Test matches, Mayank will be optimistic for a place in the team in Dharamshala and Ahmedabad. Mayank was unfortunate to have been dismissed for 249 but made sure he made an impact in the contest. 

Interestingly, he is also the highest run-getter in the ongoing season of the Ranji Trophy and is closing on for 1000 runs in the season. On Day 2 of the semifinal contest, the 31-year-old was in excellent form as he continued from his overnight hundred and brought his double ton in the 121st over. He continued his exploits and which saw him score 28 fours and 5 sixes in his innings.

He helped Karnataka reach 407 in their first innings and will be hoping to lead his side to glory for the first time since 2015. Karnataka have won the Ranji Trophy on eight occasions and are the second most successful team in the history of the competition

As things stand, the Indian team for the final two Test matches against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy is yet to be announced and Mayank would be buying for a place in the team. Shreyas Iyer is injured at the moment and could benefit from that cause.

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He last played for India in March 2022 against Sri Lanka and was an unsused player of the squad during India’s sole Test match at Edgbaston in July 2022. The Ranji Trophy has already proved to be a successful campaign for Ravindra Jadeja, who is back in the Indian team having represented Saurashtra in the quarterfinal.