 "Who is Mayank Yadav - who brought serious heat to LSG vs PBKS?")
Mayank Yadav had a debut to remember for Lucknow Super Giants against Punjab Kings in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Saturday. Yadav produced incredible pace and accuracy to run through the PBKS batting to help the side to their first win of IPL 2024.
Mayank was rewarded with a Man of the Match accolade for his 3/27 in four overs. But what stood out, and made everyone notice, was the sheer venom in his deliveries. He clocked 147 kmph with his very first ball, and ramped it up to 155.8 kmph in his second over, the fastest ball of the season so far .
The Delhi player had worked his way through injury issues last year. He was surprised with how his debut match went. “I didn’t really think it [my debut] would go that well. I have heard from the others that there can be nervousness on debut. But after the first ball, all my nervousness went away,” Mayank said at the post-match presentation. “Everyone said to not take too much pressure, just bowl on the stumps, and use the pace. That’s what I did.”
LSG had brought Mayank last to try and apply some much-needed brakes on PBKS’ batting. Chasing 200 runs, Punjab had raced off to 102/0 in the 12th over. Mayank was struck for two boundaries in the first over but came back to remove Jonny Bairstow with a 142kmph back of a length delivery that hurried the batter and saw him hand a catch at deep midwicket.
“I thought I might need to use the slower ball, but there was help from the wicket, the captain [Nicholas Pooran] said to just go with the pace,” Mayank said. “The debut wicket was my favourite.”
Impact Shorts
More ShortsThe 21-year-old was then struck for a six by Prabhsimran Singh, but kept the attacking alive and found immediate reward, beating the PBKS batter for pace and then bringing out a top-edge that went only as far as mid-on. He accounted for Jitesh Sharma as well and Punjab lost their momentum to finish on 178/5.
Shikhar Dhawan, the PBKS captain, admitted he was surprised by the pace that Mayank generated, and said their batters were outsmarted.
“We started off quite well, and thought we could chase down the score easily but the new lad Mayank bowled really well. His pace outsmarted us and we ended up losing the game,” Dhawan said.
“It was nice facing him. He surprised me that he was bowling that quick. As an experienced player, I knew I was going to use his pace rather than go against him. That was my strategy towards him, but even then, he bowled it quite smartly. He knew that I was ready for a bouncer and bowled me two yorkers.”
Love for speed since childhood
Mayank Yadav said he’s had passion for all things fast since childhood, thrilled by the sleek lines of jet planes, awe-inspiring force of rockets, and the raw power of superbikes.
“Even in normal life, apart from cricket, I love things which have speed with them. Whether it is a rocket, aeroplane or superbike, speed excites me. In my childhood, I liked jet planes and would get inspiration from them,” said Mayank in the post-match press conference.
“I have never bowled 156kmph before this. I clicked 155kmph during Mushtaq Ali (Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament), but this is my fastest ball,” added the pacer from Punjabi Bagh in New Delhi.
Mayank had played just two List A games before he was picked by LSG ahead of IPL 2022. He didn’t feature in the first season and was ruled out last season with a torn hamstring.
After he recovered, he played for North Zone in the 50-over Deodhar Trophy where he knocked out Rahul Tripathi’s middle stump.
Injury affected career
LSG had acquired Mayank’s services for his base price of Rs 20 lakh at the auction in 2022. But he’s been struck by injuries and had to wait until now to make his mark.
“I had goals to debut at a young age, but then can’t do anything about the injuries,” he said.
“Injuries are part of fast bowlers’ life, they are your friends. I had two-three major injuries in the past one or one and a half years. Those were my setbacks.
“Last season also, I missed playing in IPL because of injury. I had side strain injury with rib fracture and that happened after Vizay Hazare. My effort is to give more attention to recovery and to myself, in training and physically.”
‘Bowled serious heat’
LSG bowling coach Morne Morkel said Yadav generated some serious, which was a pleasing sight for the side.
“Young Mayank bowled serious heat and got the wickets. It was tough last year as he got injured after the first warm-up game. We’re managing him better. He ran in and that was the pleasing thing,” said Morkel, a former South African pace-bowling star.
“We asked the guys to do the basics well on a good wicket. Told him to stick to his lengths and use bouncers. Proud he ran in and bowled gas despite the humidity. How the wicket would play was an unknown, we had to sum up conditions and use them.”
Mayank draws inspiration from another legendary South African - Dale Steyn. “I look up to only one fast bowler, and that is Dale Steyn. He is my idol and I idolise him a lot.”
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