Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) 21-year-old tearaway Mayank Yadav’s thunderbolts have already earned him two Player-of-the-Match awards in his first two IPL games, and brought him in the elite category after his searing pace first rattled Punjab Kings last Saturday, and then the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on Tuesday.
It’s early days in the tournament for the youngster, and logically one mustn’t get carried away with instant success but the young Delhi sensation has displayed his skills and temperament to even torment batters accustomed to facing express pace in bouncy Australian conditions. His spell of 3 for 14 in four overs at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium included the wickets of Glenn Maxwell and Cameron Green, both used to facing high speeds Down Under, and a well-set Rajat Patidar.
Mayank came up with 16 dot-balls in his four overs on Tuesday night, and did not concede a single wide. His 48 IPL balls have brought him figures of six for 41, enough to make him the talking point of IPL 2024.
For a youngster, not even 22, bowling at 144 kmph is just the appetiser; the main course has 153, 155, enough to intimidate even the best of batters in international cricket. Does that mean he’s an outside contender for a place in the T20 World Cup squad or even during India’s five-Test tour of Australia later this year? Why not?
On Tuesday, Mayank didn’t get to bowl at Virat Kohli, and bowled one to Faf du Plessis – who was run out off that very delivery. After that, it took him three balls to get rid of Maxwell, who attempted a pull without judging the pace, was hurried into the stroke and suckered into hitting the ball up in the air.
He then greeted Green with the short ball twice, clocked at 156.8kph and 155.6kph respectively, with the nearly six-and-a-half feet tall Western Australia batter flat-batting the second ball to the boundary before the young Indian came back with a fiery 146.2kph to completely beat Green.
A few overs later, Yadav came back to hunt RCB again for his third victim of the night in the form of a well-set Rajat Patidar, and leave the Chinnaswamy crowd in awe of his express pace, a rare sight from Indian pacers.
However, Mayank must be guarded against getting carried away by the instant rise to fame, as a few below-par performances could as rapidly reduce the value of his stocks. Mayank will surely be aware of Umran Malik’s story from a couple of years ago, and won’t expect himself to travel the same road.
While Umran’s has been a story of what could have been, in Mayank’s case, injuries have robbed him of a season, and he certainly will be expecting to make the most of the opportunities over the next three and a half weeks.
“Feeling really good to get two Player-of-the-Match (awards) in two games but I’m more happy that we won both games,” Mayank said after LSG’s 28-run win against RCB.
The rest certainly lies on the selection table when Ajit Agarkar and his team picks the World Cup squad, but a good outing at the IPL could seriously give Mayank an outside chance to impress the five wise men. The selectors must also consider fast-tracking the youngster to international cricket instead of waiting for him to lose pace.
“My aim is to do well for the country for as many years as I can. This is just the start, and my focus is on the main goal,” he sent across the message.
And if the Delhi youngster is picked in the national team, it could surely bring in that X-factor along with Jasprit Bumrah’s accurate yorkers to intimidate opposition teams.
Former Australian cricketer Tom Moody hailed the pace sensation and tipped him to be in contention for India’s T20 World Cup squad.
“He (Mayank Yadav) is definitely in the conversation. Whether you take that risk punting on him or not is another conversation, because you also need to consider what skillsets you need in that reserve fast bowler – is it someone who is a power play bowler, or someone who has the ability to bowl at the death, all those subtle skill sets are important when you are talking about a T20 World Cup.”
Former India cricketers Manoj Tiwary and Virender Sehwag also backed the Delhi pacer to be fast-tracked into the national team.
“If I was in Ajit Agarkar’s position I would put him in. Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami and then him. Looking at Mayank’s form, action and release it looks like he is in control and it feels like if you give him a bigger stage, he will deliver. With IPL where many overseas players do come in and get them out, your confidence will also go up,” said the former Bengal skipper.
Sehwag rightly pointed out the difference between Mayank and Umran, who failed to live up to the billing in India colours, saying, “The difference between Mayank and Umran is that his lines are accurate. Umran was also quick but he wasn’t able to improve on his line and length. Mayank’s lines and lengths are accurate. Just for that alone I feel that he should play international cricket after IPL if he remains fit.”