Mayank Yadav (Source -IPL/BCCI)
Ace pacer Mayank Yadav earned massive praise for picking up three-for on his IPL debut against Punjab Kings earlier in the year. He picked up three more in his second game against Royal Challengers Bengaluru and soon, the 22-year-old was the talk of the town. His sheer pace impressed many of the former cricketers and Mayank was deemed as the big next bowling star for India.
However, the pacer suffered a side strain which ruled him out of the IPL 2024 after just four games. Since then, BCCI took care of his injury and brought him to the National Cricket Academy as the doctors and the physios worked in tandem to help him gain full fitness. He was expected to be named in the Duleep Trophy but the officials did not want to risk him in red-ball cricket.
As things stand, he is currently 100% fit and is training in a special camp, which also features the likes of Hardik Pandya, Riyan Parag, and Abhishek Sharma. The objective is to get over the rustiness and for the same reason, a special camp is organized. As per reports, the youngster is also in the scheme of things for the upcoming five-match T20I series against Bangladesh, and for the same reason, he is training with the India probables for the series.
“Mayank hasn’t complained of any pain over the last month or so. He is bowling full tilt at the NCA. The selectors are interested to see how ready he is for international cricket. With the long Test season ahead, the selectors are keen on trying new faces for the T20Is against Bangladesh. Pandya has not played competitive cricket for nearly a couple of months. Even Abhishek needs some quality practice,” a BCCI source told The Times of India.
Gambhir and Morkel rate Mayank highly: Source
India head coach Gautam Gambhir and bowling coach Morne Morkel spent time with Mayank during their stay in Lucknow Super Giants. The source noted that the goal is not to restrict him to T20s only but his progress will be monitored as added that Gambhir and Morkel rate him highly.
“The selectors don’t want him to be restricted to just the T20 format. Therefore, they want to carefully monitor his progress. India head coach Gautam Gambhir and bowling coach Morne Morkel rate Mayank highly since their time at Lucknow Super Giants,” he said.