"She gifted me a daily and gratitude journal" - RCB and Team India batter's massive praise for wife ahead of IPL 2026 auction

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Team India batter Mayank Agarwal showered massive praise on his wife ahead of the IPL 2026 auction. Mayank was a part of RCB's title-winning 2025 side. He came in as a replacement for Devdutt Padikkal towards the business end of the season.

Mayank Agarwal opened up on the support from his wife during tough times and her understanding towards him and his game. He revealed how he would go to train right away from a bad tour and not take a break.

"She knew and she understood my passion for the game and she's never tried to say you need to relax or you need to do this or you need to do that. She very quickly understood me as a person and guided me through that. There are times where I've come back from a tour and gone straight to the academy. 2020-2021 tour to Australia, I didn't have a great tour. I landed to the Bangalore airport and went straight to the academy. I did not go home. I finished practice, had some things in my head, worked on that, and then went back home. She's never tried to change that," he said on the RCB Podcast. "She understands what takes him and where he is at. She gifted me a daily and a gratitude journal and made me promise that I will fill it every day. She says if you can work on your plan and then we can take an off great, otherwise we can postpone and you do what you have to do," he added.

The RCB batter also revealed how his father helped him during his early days. He stated how his father pushed him towards meditation as a 19-year-old. Mayank expressed that it changed his life and helped him understand himself and his thoughts better. While there have been several ups and downs in his career, he credited his father's help, which allowed him to eventually learn acceptance and face failures.

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Mayank Agarwal on what the RCB players felt close to victory during the final

Having come in as a replacement, Mayank Agarwal made a fairy tale comeback after being unsold initially. RCB made it to the IPL 2025 final, where they faced the Punjab Kings (PBKS). Batting first, they posted a competitive total of 190/9.

Although PBKS got close, the game was as good as done close to the finish. While they knew that they were close to victory, Mayank revealed that the team did not want to think that the game was done. However, he stated that they did have a sense of victory and anticipation.

"We were very wary. We did not want to go into the flow and think ok the game is finished. Shashank was batting well. We were very aware. But as players you have a sense that you have a hold of the game, until and unless we made big mistakes. We felt it was our game to lose than theirs to win. There was a lot of confidence and belief. We had won from more tougher situations in games before. There was a bit of anticipation as well that we were getting closer," he said.

RCB restricted PBKS to 184/7 in the end and won the final. The franchise lifted the IPL trophy for the first time in 18 years and ended the jinx.

Edited by Rishab Vm