Former NZ coach Hesson backs Agarwal selection; dubs him special talent

Agarwal, who made his Test debut against Australia last year, has not played an ODI yet.

Mumbai: Former New Zealand coach Mike Hesson believes Mayank Agarwal, who has been roped in as a replacement for injured all-rounder Vijay Shankar for the ongoing World Cup, is a special talent and has the ability to hit boundaries on hard-length deliveries.

Agarwal, who made his Test debut against Australia last year, has not played an ODI yet. However, Hesson feels that selection of the 28-year-old Karnataka opener is a right move.

"I think Mayank Agarwal is a very good selection, I'm eagerly waiting to see how it goes for him. His selection indicates that maybe the team wants him to open and place KL Rahul at No.4 as Mayank Agarwal can also attack the seamers and play spin well once he gets through the power-play phase," Hesson told a sports channel.

Hesson is the coach of the IPL franchise Kings XI Punjab, for which Agarwal plays and Hesson believes that Agarwal can hit boundaries from the first ball.

"He (Agarwal) is one of those players who can hit boundaries from ball one and he can take the pressure off Rohit Sharma during the power-play by being the aggressor of the
two.

"The X factor of Mayank Agarwal is his ability to hit boundaries on hard length deliveries, specially through the off side.

He is a special talent which we have seen earlier with his introduction to the Test side. I would expect him to play up the order with KL Rahul playing at No.4, which is where India wanted him to play at the start of the tournament," added Hesson.

Indian all-rounder Vijay Shankar was Monday ruled out of the ongoing World Cup due to a toe injury.

India, who suffered their first loss of the tournament against England on Sunday, play Bangladesh Tuesday.

The Virat Kohli-led side is yet to reach the semi-finals and a win from remaining two games would suffice for a spot in the last four.