Mayank Agarwal

His senior domestic career began in T20 cricket in 2010, and an IPL deal followed in 2011 with his home side, Royal Challengers Bangalore. Aged 20, he marked his IPL debut by hitting Muttiah Muralitharan for six off the first ball he faced. His first IPL fifty came against Mumbai Indians at a strike rate above 200, with six fours and four sixes. Consistency proved elusive, though, and nearly three years passed before his second IPL half-century. He played for Delhi Daredevils from 2014 to 2016, was traded to Rising Pune Supergiant before the 2017 season but appeared only three times, and joined Kings XI Punjab at the 2018 auction, where he managed 120 runs in 11 matches.

Fitness concerns surfaced in the 2014-15 season, prompting a greater emphasis on training that is said to have sharpened his mental approach too. The breakthrough arrived in the 2017-18 Ranji season, when he scored more than 1000 runs and finished as the competition's leading run-getter, with that form carrying over into limited-overs cricket.

He was later called into India's World Cup squad in the United Kingdom as a replacement for Vijay Shankar, though he did not get a game, as KL Rahul kept the opening slot alongside Rohit Sharma through the semi-final defeat to New Zealand. After a quiet tour of the West Indies, he scored 340 runs in three home Tests against South Africa, including a century and a double hundred, ranking second among India's batsmen behind Rohit Sharma.

Straight after that series he rejoined Karnataka for the Vijay Hazare Trophy, making an unbeaten 47 from 33 balls in the semi-final win over Puducherry as a target of 224 was chased down, and an unbeaten 69 in the final as Karnataka claimed the title for the fourth time. Known as 'Monk' among his Karnataka teammates, he has pressed his claim to be considered as an opener in India's shorter-format sides.