Former India opener Aakash Chopra stated that he was surprised that pacer Mayank Yadav only played two games in India’s recent 3-2 series win over New Zealand. Mayank played his first T20I match against New Zealand in Christchurch, where he picked up figures of 1/40 from 4 overs.
Mayank then played the fourth T20I against New Zealand in Auckland and returned with figures of 3/48. Chopra speculated that Mayank might have picked up a niggle, but since nothing was clarified, he urged the Indian team management to be clear about why the pacer only played two games, despite his impressive performance.
"He may have picked up a niggle, for all we know. We have no idea. So, once we don't know, we don't want to speculate. But yes, it is a bit of a surprise. Hopefully, at some stage, somebody will ask the question, and we'll have an answer that this is the plan for Mayank Yadav. He's coming back into this team.
How many bowlers in this country bowl at 150 clicks? He's capable of doing that. His comeback is looking quite good, to be fair. He was the pick of the bowlers when he played. Mayank Yadav is back for good, is what you think. Because the only thing that was stopping him from playing for India regularly was his injury and his rehab," Chopra said on Cricinfo.
Despite being interrupted by injuries, Mayank has managed to play 12 T20Is and has claimed 17 wickets at an average of 23.82 and an economy rate of 8.80. He has consistently bowled at speeds over 145 kph and has crossed 150 kph easily.
Chopra further stated that the inexperience of young Indian pace attackers was exposed during the T20I series as New Zealand batters put them under pressure. He added that Axar Patel’s struggles with the ball further compounded India’s issues.
"When you look at the Indian fast bowling attack, it was a little inexperienced. You had Mayank; you had Prince. Both are quite young and quite raw in terms of their international experience. India did not play the spinners. Axar Patel is not really picking up wickets right now. So, if that is the territory that you're operating in, I don't think you're going to actually dismiss the opposition completely,” Chopra stated.
With the T20I series in the pocket, India will take on New Zealand in a series of five ODIs starting November 4 in Auckland, under Shubman Gill’s captaincy.
