IPL 2022: We can do well next season if we play aggressive cricket – Mayank Agarwal

Punjab Kings captain Mayank Agarwal reckons they can do well in the next season of the Indian Premier League if they play aggressive cricket.

PBKS batting unit adopted the aggressive approach in Tata IPL 2022 but the same didn’t come off in a lot of matches.

Meanwhile, PBKS finished their season on a high after they defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad by five wickets at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Sunday. The Mohali-based franchise chased down 158 convincingly with 29 balls to spare. Harpreet Brar took three wickets and conceded only 26 runs in his quota of four overs whereas Liam Livingstone scored an unbeaten knock of 49 runs.

PBKS could not qualify for the playoff stages but there were a lot of positives for the team. Shikhar Dhawan continued his consistency, Liam Livingstone was the most impressive in the middle-order, Jitesh Sharma also did well whereas Arshdeep Singh was right on the money with his death bowling.

Thus, if PBKS come up with a collective effort in the next season of the IPL, they have the players who can take them all the way in the tournament.

In fact, Punjab could not win two matches on the bounce and build any kind of winning momentum, which led to their downfall in the 15th season of the IPL.

Mayank Agarwal said in the post-match presentation, “It’s going to be sore, probably going for an X-ray now. They never expected a no-ball, so he wasn’t ready. I asked him (Malik) whether he was wearing a protective gear and he shouldn’t get hurt. There are a lot of positives for us. The way Livingstone batted, Dhawan played well. Bairstow since the time he started to open. If we go out there and play the kind of cricket we play, we can do well in the next season. We couldn’t stitch two back-to-back wins. We lost wickets in a cluster, and that at times derailed us. We have played an aggressive brand of cricket overall. We are going to sit and discuss now after the IPL. We were here to get two points and we were here to enjoy ourselves.”

PBKS will be happy to end their season with a comfortable win and they will look to bounce back stronger in the next season. Punjab has a good team and they will look to execute their plans to perfection in 2023.