Mayank Agarwal targets return to Yorkshire club that "felt like home"

“I would love to come back to Yorkshire,” said the 34-year-old, who played the final three County Championship games, scoring 175 in the last against Durham.

“I had a great time and, fingers crossed, I can play more county cricket in the future.

“Yorkshire as a club was very welcoming, and it felt like home, to be very honest. The boys were great, and if the club would like to have me, then I would love to come back.”

Yorkshire are chasing overseas seamers for the initial block of Championship fixtures. They are losing Matt Milnes and Jordan Thompson to Kent and Warwickshire respectively, leaving them light on the pace bowling front behind George Hill, Jack White and Ben Coad. They also lost Matthew Fisher last winter to Surrey.

Anthony McGrath, the Yorkshire head coach, has not ruled out bringing in overseas batsmen as well during a long season that features three competitions and inevitable to-ing and fro-ing on the overseas front, with the club fielding seven overseas players at various points this year.

Outlining his thinking, McGrath said: “I mean, all the overseas pretty much have been good, and everyone wants to come back – they keep sending messages.

“We’ve had seven, so, look, fixtures come out in November, and most of the guys that we’ve had this year will either have international commitments or franchise commitments at times, so it’s just a case of trying to patch things together.

“But I think, in that initial block, now we know the schedule, there's going to be seven Championship games in April and May, and I think we need to be, first and foremost, probably looking at bowlers.

“That doesn't mean we won't get any of the batsmen back, but I think it's just important that we strategically look at what we need in the squad, rather than who’s been the best overseas player.”

Agarwal was one of three specialist overseas batsmen who played for Yorkshire last summer, along with Pakistan’s Abdullah Shafique and Imam-ul-Haq.

So well did Imam perform during his short stint that he has since been recalled to Pakistan’s Test squad, highlighting how matters can potentially work against clubs as well as in their favour.

Agarwal has not played international cricket for over three-and-a-half years but has remained in demand at the Indian Premier League, having helped Royal Challengers Bangalore to their inaugural title in June.

The elegant right-hander has played for five different franchises during a 131-match IPL career, spread across 15 editions.

“It was phenomenal to win the IPL with RCB for the first time,” he said. “It was a great feeling, and then to come to Yorkshire and get some runs, get some game-time, was lovely to say the least.

“It’s a challenge, I’ll be honest, coming to England, but the boys did everything to make me feel really comfortable and it was great to work with the coaches as well, just feeding off their information and them analysing my game and giving me a few things to work on.

“The coaches really helped me out on all of the things I could do better, just things like alignment and playing the ball more under the eyes.”

Of his 175 against Durham, which came at a time when Yorkshire were looking to preserve their First Division status, sealed with a thumping innings victory, Agarwal was modest.

“I just did my job,” he said. “Of course, I feel very happy and proud of the way I batted, and I’m just grateful to have had an innings like that.”