IPL 2022 | Captaincy has affected Mayank Agarwal's batting - Virender Sehwag

Former Indian swashbuckling opener Virender Sehwag believes that captaincy seems to have affected the batting of Punjab Kings' opener Mayank Agarwal.

Having won two out of their first four games, Punjab has looked a decent side in the 15th season, but Mayank Agarwal has had a forgettable campaign so far.

In four games, Mayank has managed just 42 runs, out of which 32 came in the opening match against the Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Mayank was appointed skipper of the Punjab franchise ahead of the ongoing season after his former opening partner KL Rahul decided to part ways.

Agarwal has been the main aggressor for Punjab in the past two seasons, scoring in excess of 400 runs at a blistering strike rate of 140+.

Speaking to CricBuzz Live, Sehwag urged the Indian opener to play with a clear head instead of getting bogged down by the captaincy pressure.

Sehwag said, "No matter how he captains the side, he has a good bowling line-up that can control proceedings. So Mayank's batting has been affected ever since he became the captain," Sehwag told Cricbuzz.

"If you talk about his form until last year, he was consistent. He should focus on his batting and forget that he has the role of a captain or something else. He should bat freely without any pressure," he added.

He added that since T20 is a format that gives a batsman the license to express himself from the word go, Mayank should employ the same fearless approach that yielded him so much success in the past two seasons.

"Because this is the format to showcase hitting skills because, in ODIs or Tests, you need to be cautious. But as far as T20s are concerned, the format allows you to start attacking from the word go," Sehwag added.

Mayank endured yet another sub-par performance on Friday as he could manage just five off nine deliveries against the Gujarat Titans before getting dismissed by his counterpart, Hardik Pandya.

Despite his poor form, PBKS still powered their way to 189/9 courtesy of a brilliant knock from Liam Livingstone and handy cameos from Jitesh Sharma, Rahul Chahar and Arshdeep Singh. However, a blistering 96 from Shubman Gill and two sixes in the end by Rahul Tewatia sealed the deal for the Titans.