By Sahil Kohli
Indore (Madhya Pradesh) [India], November 24 : Ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) mega auction, India batter Mayank Agarawal expressed desire to play for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) once again, a franchise with which he started off his career in the cash-rich league.
The IPL mega auction is taking place in Jeddah from Sunday to Monday. Mayank, who represented Sunrisers Hyderabad last season, was released by the franchise ahead of the auction.
Speaking to ANI about the auction, Mayank said, "I think I am very excited. Having played IPL for so many years, I have the experience of playing for so many teams and having seen so many playing styles. That is something I would love to bring out in coming seasons."
"Playing for RCB would be lovely. Being a Bengaluru boy and having started my IPL journey with them, it would be great to be back. But I am a thorough professional, have played with a lot of teams. So I am looking forward to playing with any team. But RCB would be nice," he added.
In 127 IPL matches, Mayank has scored 2,661 runs at an average of 22.74, with a century and 13 fifties and best score of 106.
He started with RCB from 2011-13. In 29 matches for the Red and Gold outfit, he made 433 runs with a fifty to his name. After tenures with Delhi Capitals and Rising Pune Supergiant, his best years came with Punjab Kings from 2018-22, scoring 1,513 runs with them in 60 matches with a century and nine fifties. In 2023, he was bought by SRH for Rs 8.25 crores.
Talking about Sunrisers' run to finals last season, where they lost to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Mayank credited skipper Pat Cummins and coach Daniel Vettori for allowing players to play attacking cricket freely. He said that he implemented team's attacking style in his game and now wants to unleash it in coming seasons.
"Pat is a very good leader. He is very confident and really sure of his ideas. Even Dan Vettori (coach) as well. Both of them made a great pair. They gave us freedom to play attacking cricket and express ourselves. It is really good to be part of such conversations and see such things from close quarters. I have learnt and implemented in my game and looking forward to doing it in coming seasons," he said.
The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega auction from Sunday to Monday is all set to be two of the most intriguing days of this year's cricketing calendar, with several international stars having entered the auction, records expected to be broken and the possibility of some unexpected crossovers. A total of 574 players have been shortlisted from an initial pool of 1,574 names. These players will go under the hammer from November 24-25 in Jeddah. The list includes 208 overseas players, 12 uncapped overseas talents, and 318 uncapped Indian players.