Mayank Agarwal reveals Rahul Dravid kept him going in his quest to get India call-up

Bengaluru, May 19: Indian Test opener Mayank Agarwal says batting great Rahul Dravid's motivating words helped him keep negative thoughts at bay and continue his quest to get the call up from the national team.

Despite scoring heavily in the domestic circuit, Agarwal earned his India debut after waiting for far too long and he finally earned the international cap in 2018 on Boxing Day.

Agarwal told Sanjay Manjrekar in a videocast on ESPNcricinfo that he had thought he would never get picked for the national team, but his conversation with Dravid kept him positive.

"I was getting runs you know. I got massive runs that Ranji Trophy season and for India A. I did have a word with Rahul bhai. I told him I was getting thoughts of sometimes not getting picked," Agarwal said.

If you aren't going all the way, why go at all?#TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/bV6j1jgTpu

— Mayank Agarwal (@mayankcricket) May 17, 2020

After consistent performance for Karnataka and India A failed to get him the dream India call, Agarwal revealed former India captain Dravid, who was then the A team coach, helped himl with his wisdom.

"I very clearly remember him telling me 'Mayank these are the things that are in your hands. You have worked hard, you have gotten here. You are as close as you can get. Selection is not in your hands'.

"And I totally agreed with him. Theoretically you understand that but practically it's not easy.

"But he put forth few things - 'What is to say that the coming October and November is not going to be different from September. If you think otherwise you will get into a negative mind frame it's you who is going to lose out and nobody else'. So I remembered that talk and that kept me going," Mayank added.

"When I got the call I was elated and I called him up and thanked him."

His big moment came when he made his Test debut against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) during the 2018/19 series. The 28-year-old got his international career off to a fine start with a fighting 76 against a high-quality Australian bowling attack.

Agarwal now is part of the India Test squad and in 17 innings so far, he has scored 974 runs at an average of 57.29 with three centuries at the top of the order.

Recently, another Karnataka batsman Karun Nair also hailed Dravid and said the opportunity the batting great gave him in the IPL was instrumental in his progress. Apart from Nair, Sanju Samson also revealed how Dravid spotted him at nets and drafted him into the Rajasthan Royals squad.

(With PTI inputs)