Absent from India's Test side for four years, 35-year-old Karnataka opener Mayank Agarwal has signed a deal with Durham to play their remaining County Championship Division Two 2026 games. Agarwal is set to join Durham side which features recently-retired England all-rounder Ben Stokes.
Agarwal is replacing South Africa's David Bedingham in the side. Bedingham had scored a century in Durham's 10-wicket win over Gloucestershire last week.
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This will be Agarwal's second County stint. In the previous season, he had played three games for Yorkshire which featured a 175-run knock against his current team Durham.
"We are delighted to have Mayank joining us for our County Championship run-in," Ryan Campbell, Durham's head coach, said.
"Mayank is a hugely talented batter who has a superb first-class record, we look forward to him contributing to Durham as we look to secure our return to Division One of the County Championship."
Agarwal vs Chahal on debut
Agarwal will make his Durham debut in an away game against Northamptonshire starting September 2. He will face his former teammate, leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal in the clash.
Durham's remaining three clashes are against Middlesex, Worcestershire and Lancashire. They are currently at the top of County Championship Division T20 2026 table with 191 points. They have won seven games out of 10 whereas three ended in draw.
Agarwal’s Test record
Agarwal has not played a Test since 2022. His previous Test appearance was against Sri Lanka at his homeground. He registered scores of 4 and 22 and was dropped from the side, eventually falling off the radar as well. Apart from opening, he was tried as a middle-order batter as well.
He has played 21 Tests so far, scoring 1,488 runs, averaging 41.33. He has four tons and six half-centuries in the format.
Agarwal set to achieve major milestone
Agarwal is set to achieve a first-class milestone as well. He needs 71 more runs to complete 9,000 first-class runs. From 124 games, he has scored 8,929 runs from 210 innings at an average of 43.98. He has scored 21 centuries and 48 fifties in first-class cricket so far.