Image Credit- PTI
Following a medical emergency that kept him out of the
previous round (the fifth) of the 2023–24 Ranji Trophy, Mayank Agarwal has been
given the all-clear to resume playing cricket.
The skipper of Karnataka, Agarwal, had consumed what
he thought to be water while travelling from Agartala after his team’s match
versus Tripura was over. After experiencing a vomiting fit, he was taken off
the aircraft and checked into a private hospital located in Agartala.
The next day, Agarwal was discharged and went back to
Bengaluru, where he got checked out. After being cleared of all serious
concerns, he was told to take it easy for two days before getting back to work.
For the sixth-round southern derby against Tamil Nadu
at Chepauk, which starts later this week, Agarwal returned to captaincy on
Monday. According to Agarwal, everything was “fit and fine and there were
no major issues.”
The return of Agarwal and Devdutt Padikkal, who was
sidelined for the first two rounds because of his duties with India A,
strengthens a young lineup that the Railways gave a serious scare.
Thanks to an unbeaten 67 from Manish Pandey, Karnataka
were bowled out for 174 in the first innings and blew past their target of 226
with one wicket remaining. With three victories in five games, this puts them
in second place in Group B. The only things separating them and the winners,
Tamil Nadu, are the quotient and bonus points.
Young batsman Nikin Jose led Karnataka in Agarwal’s
absence, scoring two runs. Jose got off to a great start to the season when he
blasted 107 against Goa in his second appearance, but he has since only scored
eight runs in four innings. Agarwal, meanwhile, has amassed 310 runs at an
average of 44.28 through seven innings, including one hundred and two
half-centuries.