Why Karnataka's Mayank Agarwal missed out on maiden India call-up despite red-hot domestic form

Mayank Agarwal seems to be in the form of a lifetime currently, scoring runs in heaps across formats in domestic cricket at the moment. The latest instance of this magical run happens to be occurring in the recently-concluded Vijay Hazare Trophy. Yet, luck hardly seems to be shining on the Karnataka batsman, as he missed out on his maiden call-up to the Indian team — as with the announcement of the squad for the upcoming Nidahas Trophy triangular series, to take place in Sri Lanka later this month. It is hard to ignore someone who happens to have topped the run-scoring charts in the latest editions of both the Ranji Trophy as well as the Vijay Hazare Trophy, BCCI’s premier First Class and List A competitions. As far as his run in T20Is is concerned, he hit three fifties in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy at a strike rate that is within touching distance of the 150-mark. [caption id=“attachment_4375679” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Mayank Agarwal. Image credit: Twitter/@mayankcricket[/caption] Overall, the opening batsman has piled up more than 2,000 runs across formats in this domestic season. However, the notion that the MSK Prasad-led selection panel ignored Agarwal’s blistering form in the Vijay Hazare Trophy may not be entirely true, as the squad that is set to fly to Sri Lanka very soon was picked well before Agarwal finished as the top run-getter in the tournament. According to The Indian Express, the BCCI decided to convene a meeting involving its selection panel at its headquarters at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on 20 February, one day before the quarter-final stage of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, in which Agarwal struck a lively 140 against Hyderabad, had begun. Baroda’s Deepak Hooda turned out to be the surprise pick for the tri-series that begins on 6 March, with the likes of Washington Sundar, Rishabh Pant, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj and Vijay Shankar finding a place in the relatively inexperienced side that was announced by the selection panel on 25 February. Rohit Sharma was picked as the captain of the squad, with the selectors deciding to rest regular skipper Virat Kohli and veteran wicket-keeper batsman MS Dhoni while announcing the squad on 25 February. Chief selector Prasad however, reiterated that Agarwal’s strong showing in the domestic season had not gone unnoticed. “I spoke to Mayank and told him that with his brilliant performances in domestic cricket, he has now definitely got himself in the mix. I told him that he is now in the queue,” Prasad was quoted as saying in the The Indian Express report.