He’s been the star of the domestic season and has done exceptionally well for Karnataka and more recently, for India A. This explosive batsman from Bengaluru managed to shine in India A’s recent tour of England by continuing his dream run. Ahead of the Karnataka Premier League, we caught up with the cricketer, who was his affable self, as he got chatty with us.
Now that he’ll be playing for the Hubli Tigers again, what are his thoughts ahead of the KPL, that will kick off on August 15 this month? “It’s good to be in the same team as last year. I won’t be available for most of the tournament as I’ll be playing for India A in the series against South Africa and the Quadrangular after that,” says the batsman.
There have been several articles written about how despite his phenomenal form, the Karnataka batsman has not been rewarded with an India call-up. What does he have to say about this? “I think as a player I’m very happy with the way I’m playing and doing whatever is in my control. There are few things that are not in my control and I don’t want to think about them. I’m just really happy in the space I’m in and the effort and the runs that have been coming, so I just have to go out there and keep doing that. The rest will take care of itself,” says the composed batsman.
Talk veers towards IPL 2018, and Mayank reveals that the tournament was a fantastic experience for him and getting to play with his Karnataka buddies KL Rahul and Karun Nair was good fun. Ask him if he thinks that he’s jinxed in terms of performance when it comes to the IPL and he replies, “It’s just that of late, I haven’t had the kind of IPL that I’ve expected. Yes, a good IPL makes a great difference and I haven’t got that, but there are a lot of things to look forward to. It doesn’t mean that if you haven’t had it in the past one or two years, it’s going be the same next year,” he shares.
On a personal note, the batsman got hitched to his sweetheart Aashita Sood, daughter of top cop Praveen Sood in a grand ceremony in June. “Married life has been good, but we haven’t had a lot of time as I had to go to England after the wedding. We’re getting to spend some time now, so it’s nice. It’s better to be busy than be free,” he smiles.
The couple usually goes out for dinners or spends time with family at home when free. “We also like to go out for movies and my wife is someone who likes to read books. Aashita was never a huge cricket fan and is still the same. That’s something I appreciate as I don’t have to play the sport all day and go in the evening and talk about it again. It’s good that we have our time away from the sport,” he adds.
