India pace sensation Mayank Yadav has received rich praise from former South Africa cricketer and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) fielding coach Jonty Rhodes. Mayank Yadav made his LSG debut in IPL 2024 and stunned everyone with his extreme pace.
He picked three wickets in his first two IPL matches, against Punjab Kings and Royal Challengers Bengaluru. The Delhi-bound pacer continuously bowled above 145 and returned with a figure of 3 for 27 with a top speed of 155.8 km/h against PBKS.
Mayank also holds the record for the fastest delivery of IPL 2024, at 156.7 kmph, which came in the clash against RCB at Bengaluru.
However, he was injured against the Gujarat Titans at the Ekana Cricket Stadium and went off the field with a side strain, which was later confirmed as lower abdominal tightness, forcing him to miss the rest of the season.
"I'm not a bowling coach, but Morne Morkel, during the previous season, when Mayank got injured at the start of the preparation, literally Morne said, 'Wow, this guy (Mayank Yadav), he's like the Rolls Royce of bowlers, similar to how we used to call Allan Donald a Rolls Royce. He is LSG's Rolls Royce.
He had a whole season with the team and that's why the owners decided to keep him with the team, he did all his rehab throughout the IPL and stayed a part of the unit because we believe that he is a young guy with extreme talent and we saw him in the games that he played and everybody was monitoring him not wrapping him in cotton wool," Rhodes told IANS.
Frequent injuries have hampered Mayank's cricketing career so far. He missed the IPL 2023 owing to an injury incurred during a practice session, and he was forced to miss the entire 2023/24 Ranji Trophy due to an injury, for which he received therapy in Mumbai.
"But monitoring his workload and understanding that he is a guy that doesn't need to bowl 30 minutes every day in the nets, he just needs to top up to make sure that he from a mental and emotional point of view feels that he's ready because he is raw talent.
We saw what happened with Umran Malik who burst onto the scenes at the sheer pace we all got excited, but you know the question is can the player bowl to the game plan that's because they're bowling some of the best batters in the world and sometimes on really good surfaces so if you've just got pace and you can't bowl in good areas or with good skill, the better players will hit you out the ground," said Rhodes.
"So I think from a point of view where LSG haven't worried about or haven't gone, let's wrap him in cotton wool, because then he comes to the game, you never know what's going to happen. But the preparation is key and hopefully, you know, through the season when the off-season and now the season again by the time he comes to IPL and if he's playing with LSG again or even if he's not playing for LSG I just hope Mayank is bowling and is fit for the whole IPL because there's a talent that is exciting," he concluded.
(IANS inputs)
