"Child Of The Wind": West Indies Great's Massive Praise For Mayank Yadav Amid IPL 2024 Exploits
LSG had picked Mayank Yadav for his base price of Rs 20 lakh at the 2022 IPL auction but he only warmed the bench that season and missed the 2023 edition because of injury.
- NDTV Sports Desk
- Updated: April 05, 2024 02:00 PM IST
Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) pacer Mayank Yadav has been making waves with his scorching pace in the ongoing season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). During LSG's game against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on Tuesday, Mayank became the first bowler in the cash-rich domestic league to win the 'Player of the Match' award in his first two matches. The 21-year-old stunned the RCB batters with his raw pace to register figures of 3/14, and clocked the fastest delivery of IPL 2024 at 156.7 kmph.
Former West Indies pacer Ian Bishop was in awe of Mayank's sheer pace and said that the youngster is "bowling like a child of the wind".
This Mayank Yadav Kid bowling like a child of the wind,,,pphhoofff.
— Ian Raphael Bishop (@irbishi) April 2, 2024
Against RCB, Mayank dismissed Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, and Cameron Green in his four-over spell.
In LSG's previous encounter against Punjab Kings (PBKS) at Lucknow's Ekana Cricket Stadium, Yadav impressed on his IPL debut, picking up three wickets at the expense of only 27 runs. His bowling heroics saw him walk away with the 'Player of the Match' award.
With back-to-back three-wicket hauls in his first two IPL matches, Mayank became only the sixth bowler in the tournament's history to do so. The others to have achieved the feat earlier were Lasith Malinga, Amit Singh, Mayank Markande, and Jofra Archer.
LSG had picked Mayank Yadav for his base price of Rs 20 lakh at the 2022 IPL auction but he only warmed the bench that season and missed the 2023 edition because of injury.Â
With just one first-class appearance, for Delhi in December 2022, Yadav's elevation from frail 15-year-old to a lightning quick match-winner is like a fairytale -- but his club coach said he had expected it.Â
"I was not surprised at all," Davendra Sharma told Indian outlet Sportstar.
"He belonged to the big league because of his speed and the gift of bringing the ball in.Â
"It was only a matter of time for Mayank to make an impression nationally."
(With AFP Inputs)