Mayank Yadav Or Gerald Coetzee? Controversy Over IPL 2024's Fastest Ball - Explained

Mayank Yadav has impressed both experts as well as fans with his fiery pace and during Lucknow Super Giants' IPL 2024 match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, he claimed the distinction of bowling the fastest delivery of this year's competition at 156.7 kmph. However, the record came with a slight controversy as earlier in the day, Mumbai Indians fast bowler Gerald Coetzee grabbed headlines for allegedly bowling a 157.4 kmph delivery against Rajasthan Royals. While the news did do the rounds on social media, the official list shown by IPL during LSG's game did not feature Coetzee's record.

Mayank had earlier claimed the record with a fiery 156.7 kmph delivery during the match against Punjab Kings and on Tuesday, the IPL claimed that the youngster has bettered his own record.

There was another list that showed the fastest deliveries in the history of the competition and it was topped by Shaun Tait with his 157.7 kmph effort. He was followed by Lockie Ferguson (157.3kph) and Sunrisers Hyderabad's Umran Malik (157kph) and Mayank currently in fourth position.

According to ESPNCricinfo, the speedometer was at fault in reading Coetzee's speed during the RR match and the actual speed of the delivery was actually around 141 kmph.

Following his three-wicket haul against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the Indian Premier League (IPL), Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) pacer Mayank Yadav said that Cameron Green's dismissal was special to him among other wickets.
Within just two matches, Mayank has gathered headlines for his sheer pace, touching bowling speeds of 150 kmph-plus consistently.

In a video shared on IPL's official social media handle, Mayank said that the over where he dismissed Green was very aggressive. He revealed that the LSG skipper KL Rahul told the pacer to "attack a bit" and use bouncers.

"Green's wicket was special because I personally like just like one kind of wicket, which is bowling people out, like any fast bowler. That over was a bit aggressive because I'd picked a wicket in the previous over. The captain also told me to attack a bit and use the bouncer with my pace," Mayank said.

He added that his side's plan was to bowl at the stumps and not to give any room to the RCB batters.

"No extra training, I just do things that make me quicker and stronger. This was the first time I played on this ground. I'd heard that 180 is easily chaseable on this ground but our plan was to keep bowling at the stumps and not give the batters any room," he added.

During the match against RCB, Yadav bagged three wickets in his four-over spell, giving only 14 runs. Following his remarkable spell, the pacer was named the 'Player of the Match'. The LSG seamer scripted history at the age of 21 as he became the first bowler in the history of IPL to win the 'Player of the Match' award in their first two matches.

(With ANI inputs)

Topics mentioned in this article

Mayank Yadav Gerald Coetzee Lucknow Super Giants Mumbai Indians IPL 2024 Cricket