The Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) has submitted their final retention list for the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, where they decided to keep Mayank Yadav for the three editions of the event. The pacer came into the scene during the previous season and caught the eyes of the spectators with his incredible pace.
Mayank Yadav picked up seven wickets in four innings of the last IPL at an average of under 13 and a strike rate of 10.4 with an economy rate of nearly seven, with a best bowling figure of nearly seven. The pacer rattled the batting department of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) during their game at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.
The development meant that the Delhi pacer displayed his quality and impression around the country and was soon pushed up towards the dream end of making his potential debut for the Blue Brigade. The injury ruled him out of the middle half of the last season before he worked on his fitness.
LSG confident to get quality of Mayank Yadav for IPL 2025
Mayank Yadav made his debut for the national side recently during the opening 20-over game in the three-match T20I series against Bangladesh. He bagged four scalps in three innings at an average of below 21 and a strike rate of 18 with an economy of under seven at a best bowling innings of 2/32.
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The injuries can backfire on the decision to retain the pacer. But, the Lucknow franchise was ready to hold on to their express pacer at any cost.
“The way you look at it, when a player is playing a match, is he able to contribute to a win?” The co-owner of the team, Sanjeev Goenka, explained the reason for picking him as one of the star retentions. “I think Mayank Yadav fits the bill perfectly. He has played in four games last season and picked up seven wickets. That itself shows the potential of the individual.”
The pace had to sit out of the 2023 season with a torn hamstring, but his ridiculous spells of 3/27 against the Punjab Kings and 3/14 against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) made him the first player in the history of the IPL to be named the ‘Player of the Match’ on the first two occasions.
Besides Mayank Yadav, the franchise went on to keep Nicholas Pooran as their first retention for a price of INR 21 crore, the leg-spinner of India, Ravi Bishnoi, the two uncapped players in the form of Ayush Badoni and Mohsin Khan.
“If you look at other players with similar backgrounds, when they first started, they were injury-prone as well, and they had to work on their fitness, if I can put it that way.” Goenka addressed. “So that wasn’t the deciding factor, it was about when he plays, what’s the contribution he makes to the game and LSG. That was the guiding principle behind keeping him.”
The Indian Premier League (IPL) has shown how tough it became for the bowlers, but Sanjeev is confident to see the young bowler getting developed under pressure.
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“These guys really know how not to be tossed around.” The owner reflected, giving the examples of Mayank Yadav and Mohsin Khan’s performances in the death overs.
The mega auction is expected to take place in the last week of November or the first week of December, and the franchise will be eager to find their new captain of the side.