The fastest Mayank clocked was around 142 kmph. ©BCCI/IPL
"It's nothing special - he's bowling, I'm batting. It's just another bowler for me to face. I wouldn't say I've done any special preparation against him. Yes, I've watched his videos to understand what he bowls and what shots I can play, but I would say he's just another bowler." Mumbai Indians' Naman Dhir was rather nonchalant about Mayank Yadav, once hailed as the next big star in Indian cricket.
Naman faced four deliveries and managed just two runs. Weighing that factor in, whether Naman's dismissive indifference towards Mayank's bowling was justified is open to debate. But the much-anticipated comeback for the fast bowler turned out to be rather uneventful. Figures of 2 for 40 in a high-scoring game are, for sure, respectable, but his bowling lacked the spark, pace, whip, zip, nip, fire and intensity that one would have expected of him. In short, there were no thunderbolts - he did not look dangerous.
Credit to him that he got rid of two key MI batters - Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya - but those scalps were more with deception rather than intimidation. Both came off slower ones - Rohit guiding a 120 kmph delivery to short third man and the ball that got Hardik bowled (through the gate) was delivered 134.2 kmph speed. When Mayank opened the attack for LSG, all eyes were on the speed gun. The fastest he clocked was around 142 kmph.
It was different when he arrived on the horizon last season. Consistently clocking over 150 on the speed gun - with his quickest delivery ever being 156.7 kmph (against RCB), the second-fastest by an Indian after Umran Malik (157 kmph) - Mayank featured in four games last season before a back injury rendered him hors de combat. Remarkably, LSG won all four of those matches. He was the player of the match in two of those games. There was no midas touch this time around, however -
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