Mayank Yadav made his return for Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on April 27. Having been out of action for 6 months due to a lumbar injury, the speedster returned to the Indian Premier League (IPL) against the Mumbai Indians (MI). No one expected him to clock 156 km/h in his first match, but they were shocked when, after delivering 4 overs, he didn’t even touch 143 km/h.
But despite a significant drop in his pace, Mayank was the most economical bowler that LSG had. He only went for 40 runs when MI scored 215. And on top, claimed the wickets of Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya. But without his express speed, he was ‘just another bowler’.
Is Mayank Yadav’s fear factor gone?
MI’s finisher Naman Dhir scored 25 off 11 runs and gave his team the final flourish they needed. Against Mayank, the batter scored just 2 runs from 4 balls. But he wasn’t intimidated by the express pacer. Mayank was quite challenging to face; even the likes of Jonny Bairstow, Cam Green and Glenn Maxwell were troubled by him.
But Naman had no problem. He thinks that there was ‘nothing special’ about how Mayank was bowling to him. He hadn’t prepared or thought much about facing the pacer before the match, and that really didn’t impact him at all.
“It’s nothing special. He is bowling, I am batting; it’s nothing special. It’s another bowler to face for me. I won’t say I prepared much against him. Yes, I watched his videos of what he will bowl and what shots I can play, but I would say it’s another bowler for me to face,” Dhir said after the MI clash.
