IPL 2018: Mayank Markande Receive Praises from Mahela Jayawardene

It was a heroic inning from Dwayne Bravo which sealed an improbable victory for the Chennai Super Kings in the opening match of the 11^th season of the Indian Premier League. He played a stunning knock of 68 off 30 deliveries which helped Chennai win a nail-biting thriller by a wicket.

While Mumbai Indians will surely rue the missed opportunity to start the tournament on a winning note, one young leg-spinner from Mumbai had a day to remember.

Mayank Markande produced a gem of a spell where he bagged three crucial wickets and conceded only 24 runs. He was bought at his base price of Rs 20 lakhs and he lived up to his reputation in the very first match.

He also bagged the prized wicket of MS Dhoni and won applause from all the experts and former cricketers. Mumbai coach and former Sri Lankan captain, Mahela Jayawardene heaped praises on the young spinner during the post-match conference.

“I thought he bowled brilliantly; we backed him when we saw him first at our camp. We knew that he was special… he came for two trial games for us, both him and (Rahul) Chahar. We backed our youngsters. We knew that this is the year we had to do that. The stadium was packed against CSK, and he bowled well, I am pleased for him,” said Jayawardene when asked about Markande’s performance in the first game of the eleventh edition of the tournament.

Jayawardene mentioned Markande’s accuracy and his variations were the keys to his success in the succession of his IPL debut.

“I think it is the accuracy. He is quite accurate and probably a bit different to a normal leg-spinner as well. The way he delivers the ball, the control (that) he has with his variations, and he is very confident for a guy who has not played much T20 cricket. He has played a lot of state cricket for Punjab. His attitude is great, and we want to back those guys, give them an opportunity and see what happens,” concluded Jayawardene.