Persistent pursuit of success sets Mayank Agarwal apart: Muralidhar

Bengaluru, December 26: Mayank Agarwal made a solid beginning to his Test career with a 76 against Australia in the third Test at Melbourne on Wednesday (December 26), and R Muralidhar, who knows the opener closer than many, was a happy man.

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Muralidhar has been the personal coach of Mayank over five years and they have seen several ups and downs together. "He was very decisive in shot-making, something we were working on over the years. He never seemed to be double-minded while selecting shots, reflecting his confident state of mind. I feel very elated with the way he responded to the situation," said Muralidhar, who is currently coaching the Nagaland Under-23 side.

Making Test debut in Australia is a hazardous job, especially if you are an opening batsman. More often than not, the pitch will offer some assistance to the quick bowlers and in Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins, the Aussies have a very efficient unit. But Agarwal tamed the bowlers, occasion and a slightly double-paced track to make his maiden appearance memorable.

Muralidhar did not have any doubts about his ward's ability to get the better of the situation. "After the team was announced by BCCI, we spoke and he was obviously very happy and sounded a tad nervous at the same time. Playing in Australia against Australia is one of the toughest challenges in cricket, so a bit of nerves was there. But the best part about him is that he has already gone through a lot, in the sense he has already experienced a lot of ups and downs and when his turn came (to bat for India) he was ready to face the challenge," he said.

Muralidhar singled out Mayank's dogged pursuit of success and excellence as the quality that sets him apart from several others. "He is persistent in his pursuance of success and his willingness to work hard, I think, those two are his biggest qualities. It is not easy for someone who stays 30 kms outside of Bengaluru to come to the stadium to do nets, training etc and then he visits my academy, which is again more than 20 kms away from KSCA. He finishes his skill works there and then returns home by 6.30 pm, imagine his day starts at 6 am. He has done that routine for close to five years now and that itself speaks volumes about his determination. The amount of drills that we did, the amount of batting, close to 3 hours a day, practice he did at the academy...he does that six days a week."

All those hard work and determination have fetched Mayank a spot in the Indian team, but Muralidhar also remembers a time when self-doubts gnawed at the right-handed opener. "The first three years, he was not scoring big runs and despite all those failures and rejection he used to come back and say: "Ok, let's start all over again." On those days, it would have been easier for him to give up cricket because he is coming from an affluent family and he could have opted for a career elsewhere. But the passion for cricket driven him and look where he is now," he said.

So, how the turnaround was achieved? "Mayank always had the skill, the ability to strike the ball clean. But during those days he seemed to be not believing in himself or in his ability. It was hurting to see a talented cricketer not trusting in himself. At this level, you can handle 140 or 150 kmph balls, but if you are not consistent then it is more about mindset than technique. My role was to feeding good and positive thoughts to his mind and that helped him," said Muralidhar.