Mayank Yadav is the first player in the history of IPL to bag two Player of the Match awards in his first two matches. Almost half of the 48 balls he has delivered in IPL 2024 have been over the 150 km/h mark with the fastest one being clocked at 156.7 km/h against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Tuesday that resulted in Cameron Green’s wicket. Australian international batters getting beaten all ends up by the sheer pace of the delivery is a rare sight. Mayank did that to two of them – Green and Glenn Maxwell.
With the kind of start Mayank Yadav has gotten off to in the IPL, there are high chances it might not the be only instance. Not only in the IPL but also in international cricket. In a country always hungry for tearaway quicks, Mayank has emerged as someone who can not only give the world’s fastest bowlers a run for their money but also go toe-to-toe with his accuracy.
India have had bowlers who burst onto the scene bowling over 150 km/h in the IPL before. Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron got everyone talking more than a decade ago with their raw pace in the league. The last one to draw the attention with his thunderbolts was Sunrisers Hyderabad’s Umran Malik.
Mayak Yadav’s main goal is to play for India
It’s still early days for Mayank but he has already shown more control than all of the above when they first started their IPL careers. Therefore, it doesn’t seem like an overstretch when the 21-year-old from Delhi says he has ‘just started’ and his main goal is to represent India for a long time.
“My goal is to play for the country. I want to serve the country for many years. I feel this is just the start. I am focussed more on that main goal,” he said after leading LSG to back-to-back wins. “Feel really good, two Player of the Match awards in two matches. I am happier that we won both matches.”
He returned with immaculate figures of 3/14 and made it almost impossible for any RCB batter to score against him. His three wickets included Green, Glenn Maxwell and Rajat Patidar. All three of them were beaten for pace. Green was clearly late when Mayank pitched it slightly on the good-length area. The ball clipped the top of his off stump.
Maxwell and Patidar failed while trying to take on Mayank’s bouncers. The ball got big on them and resulted in top edges. “I enjoyed Cameron Green’s wicket the most,” he said.
Mayank had missed the last season due to injury and he fully knows the importance of fitness.
“There are a lot of factors to bowl quick – diet, sleep, training. You have to be perfect in these things to bowl fast. I am focusing a lot on my diet and recovery, ice bath is helping me a lot in my recovery,” he said.
