Lucknow Super Giants' latest pace sensation Mayank Yadav has created ripples in world cricket with his express pace along with control on lines and lengths as he has single-handedly destroyed two batting line-ups in span of a few days. Seeing how well Mayank has bowled, the fans and a few former cricketers want him to fast-track him to the Indian team for as soon as the T20 World Cup.
Mayank Yadav, the 21-year-old Delhi pacer has become an overnight sensation, after his exploits in the 2024 edition of the IPL playing for the Lucknow Super Giants. Yadav, who got injured during the training even before the first game of the last season, is fit and raring to go and has already dismantled a couple of famed batting line-ups of Punjab Kings and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in a span of a few days. Not just the sheer pace, the most impressive thing about Mayank has been his accuracy with lines and lengths as he is rushing the batters but also not giving them any room to play their shots.
After three wickets and a Player of the Match on debut on Saturday against the Punjab Kings, Mayank Yadav was brought on in the powerplay by the skipper KL Rahul. Mayank not only took Glenn Maxwell's wicket by cramping him on a short-ball but his over also brought RCB skipper Faf du Plessis' downfall, who was run out.
Mayank went on to dismiss Cameron Green and dangerous-looking Rajat Patidar to finish off an exceptional spell of 3/14 as by the time he was done bowling, LSG were in a comfortable place to win the game.
While a few wanted BCCI to prepare Mayank for the Australian tour, a few didn't even want to wait for that as they'd like to see him don India colours as soon as the T20 World Cup in the West Indies and the USA in June. Here are a few of the reactions:
Mayank bettered his own record of the fastest delivery bowled in IPL 2024, he achieved three days ago by bowling a 156.7 km/hr rocket to Cameron Green on the first ball of the eighth over of the innings. The right-arm pacer also became the first player in IPL history to win two Player of the Match awards in his first two games in the tournament. This is just the start, but Mayank has shown enough that he could be the next big thing in the sport.
