In 2021, during the Vijay Hazare Trophy at the IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali, former India wicketkeeper Vijay Dahiya, then an assistant coach and talent scout for Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), spotted an exciting fast bowling talent from the Delhi nets. Immediately, Dahiya got in touch with the bowler and spoke to Gautam Gambhir, LSG’s director of cricket at the time, insisting they must pick him at the auction.
That fast bowler was the 21-year-old Mayank Yadav, who, on Saturday, broke the back of the Punjab Kings chase with a four-over spell of extreme fast bowling that will be remembered for a long time. Hitting speeds north of 150kph repeatedly, Mayank had batters with international experience hopping, and his 155.8kph thunderbolt to Shikhar Dhawan has been recorded as the fastest ball of this IPL season.
After Punjab had powered to 102 for no loss in the 12th over while chasing 200, Mayank took the crucial wickets of Jonny Bairstow, Prabhsimran Singh, and Jitesh Sharma, all of them hurried by his express pace and caught trying to pull. Mayank was the Player of the Match on his IPL debut and became an instant sensation.
Former India batting coach Sanjay Bangar, now Kings’ director of cricket, acknowledged Mayank’s impact, saying, “He came in and broke the back of our batting. He bowled really fast and the lengths that he bowled made it difficult.”
Dahiya’s pick, who LSG had bought at the IPL 2022 auction at his base price of INR 20 lakh, had made a head-turning start to his IPL career.
Speaking in Lucknow, Mayank relived how he felt when LSG coach Justin Langer told him about his debut, saying, “There was a lot of excitement. For the past two years, I was only visualizing one thing: how will I deliver that first ball in IPL and how it would feel in front of the audience.”
