IPL’s emerging stars: Mayank Yadav’s fast break into India’s consciousness

Mayank Yadav’s maiden IPL campaign has been confined to bowling just 73 deliveries.

In these 12.1 overs, Yadav, 21, has illustrated many of the attributes of an exciting tearaway – he is lean and mean, and gallops into the crease to unleash 150kph-plus thunderbolts that endanger the heads and toes of the men standing about 20 yards away.

The fastest delivery of the season belongs to Yadav, having cranked up his speed to 156.7kph against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in his second outing of the season for Lucknow Super Giants (LSG).

But let’s begin with the game -- against Punjab Kings (PBKS) on March 30 -- that saw the pacer from Punjabi Bagh in Delhi announce his arrival. Having endured a two-year wait to soak in the IPL experience – he was picked by the franchise ahead of the 2022 season – Yadav’s first opportunity to impress came when he was handed the ball in the 10th over. Shikhar Dhawan and Jonny Bairstow, enlightened by years of international experience, were at the crease and Punjab were well placed at 88/0 in a chase of 200.

Nerves did not show as Yadav opened with a 147kph delivery that beat Bairstow’s attempted cut. Just nine balls later – in between clocking a best of 155.8kph – Yadav would be celebrating his first wicket, short and into Bairstow’s body, cramping the England batter for room as a pull was miscued to Marcus Stoinis at deep midwicket. Prabhsimran Singh and Jitesh Sharma were also done in by the extra pace, Yadav finishing with a match haul of 3/27 to lead LSG to a 21-run win.

To illustrate this was no one-off, Yadav backed it up with figures of 3/14 against RCB in Bengaluru in the very next clash, again setting pulses racing with searing pace at a venue that can be a graveyard for bowlers. By accounting for Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell and Cameron Green, he also became the first player in IPL’s 17 editions to win Player-of-the-Match awards in his opening two games.

Yadav’s pace and promise were evident to Devender Sharma when the bowler walked into the renowned Sonnet Club nets as a scrawny 14-year-old without prior formal coaching.

“When he first came for a trial at Sonnet 6-7 years ago, he was frail. But when he bowled, the ball skidded quickly off the wicket. That is an inborn ability. I was surprised about how a small kid can bowl so fast. Main shuru se dekh raha hoon (I am seeing from the beginning). We realised he has something extra,” Sharma, a former Delhi wicketkeeper who was noted coach Tarak Sinha’s aide at the club for many years before taking charge, said proudly.

It’s worth pointing out that Yadav’s pace is north of 150kph even when the cameras aren’t present in a sizeable number in domestic cricket – he clocked 155kph in last year’s Deodhar Trophy for instance.

“When he made his (List A) debut for Delhi against Haryana, he won them the match. He took 12 wickets in the Deodhar Trophy last year. I have been telling people for the last 3-4 years that a very good fast bowler has come from Delhi. He can bowl even quicker,” says Sharma.

These are early days but Yadav’s consistency with his line and length seems to be another appreciable trait.

“He has worked hard on his line and length. Run-up, action and follow-through are three important aspects. He has worked on his run-up and made his action steady. When your action is steady, you can bowl where you want to. You must have seen Green’s dismissal. He was waiting on the back foot for a shorter delivery, but Mayank bowled fuller and got him bowled. It shows the kid’s brain,” Sharma points out.

Injury management

If there was genuine excitement about fast-tracking Yadav into the Indian set-up after his first two IPL games though, the need to exercise caution became clear from events in his next two games. In his third game, against Gujarat Titans, he bowled only one over for 13 runs before walking off the field with what was later reported as an abdominal strain. Only two deliveries were clocked above 140kph in that lone over as Yadav missed the next five games.

When he returned against Mumbai Indians three weeks later, he bowled his first three overs seemingly untroubled. But the first ball of his fourth over, though resulting in a wicket, caused enough discomfort for Yadav to walk off without again finishing his quota.

While Yadav trained with his LSG teammates at the Arun Jaitley Stadium before their penultimate game against Delhi Capitals on Tuesday, he hasn’t played a game since that clash versus MI on April 30. “I’m getting better. It’s a lower side issue this time,” Yadav told HT on Thursday.

If Indian cricket cares about Yadav not falling by the wayside like many pacers in the past have, he needs to be afforded special attention. That the BCCI has given him a fast-bowling contract is a good starting point, but the key is to ensure he is fit and strong enough to keep bowling fast without worrying about the threat of injury. Only then will his obvious potential translate into outstanding performances consistently.