Mayank Yadav, the tearaway Delhi pacer, has earned his maiden India call-up for the upcoming three-match Bangladesh T20I series. His coach Devender Sharma credited NCA chief VVS Laxman for Mayank getting fit after suffering an injury during the IPL 2024.
Mayank Yadav made quite a name for himself in IPL 2024 where he turned out for Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). He grabbed everyone’s attention with his raw pacer and wicket-taking abilities during his short yet impactful stint.
The 22-year-old pacer had a fantastic performance in his Lucknow Super Giants debut against the Punjab Kings. Mayank shook the PBKS batting lineup, dismissing Jonny Bairstow, Prabhsimran Singh, and Jitesh Sharma while clocking speeds of over 150 kph. He was named Player of the Match.
Mayank bowled the fastest delivery in IPL 2024 at 155.8 kmph in his first outing and then broke his record by hitting 156.7 kmph in the following game against Royal Challengers Bengaluru. His blazing pace and accuracy bowling propelled him to instant stardom, as he took six wickets in his first two games, earning back-to-back Player of the Match awards.
However, he soon picked up an abdominal injury which sidelined him from the rest of the IPL 2024.
“All credit to VVS Laxman sir: Mayank Yadav’s coach after pacer’s maiden India call-up
Mayank Yadav, who has not played any competitive cricket for more than four months has been given fitness clearance by VVS Laxman, the current head of the National Cricket Academy (NCA).
His coach Devender Sharma credited VVS Laxman for paying attention to Mayank’s injury and making sure that the pacer was 100% fit before returning to action.
“All credit to Laxman sir. He took a special interest in Mayank, right from the day Mayank went to NCA. He was given a clear instruction by Laxman sir to first work on his core strength and then start bowling. It was a slow process. BCCI didn’t want to take any risk. He started bowling two months back, and it took him a month to get back to his normal speed. For the past six weeks, he has been bowling 15 overs per day at the NCA, another instruction given to him by Laxman sir,” Devender Sharma, coach of Mayank Yadav, told The Indian Express.
Devender also revealed that VVS Laxman has cleared Mayank to only play in the T20Is.
“Yes, there is a temptation to Mayank to Australia. But as far as I know, he will be tested in the T20Is first. Thereafter, he was told to play Ranji Trophy for Delhi. The NCA wants to monitor his body and whether it can cope with the pressure of four days or not. For now, he is fit to bowl four overs, in my opinion, he needs a season of domestic cricket to get ready for the four-day matches,” he said.
India Squad for Bangladesh T20Is: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Rinku Singh, Hardik Pandya, Riyan Parag, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Mayank Yadav.
IND v BAN T20I Series Schedule:
1st T20I – Gwalior (OCT 6)
2nd T20I – New Delhi (OCT 9)
3rd T20I – Hyderabad (OCT 12)