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India, we have a new tearaway pacer in town… and his name is Mayank Yadav. Setting the speed gun on fire, the 21-year-old made headlines during the IPL 2024 when he bowled the fastest ball of the season clocked at a lightning quick speed of 155.8 kph. That’s bloody quick. It’s the fifth fastest ball ever bowled in the history of IPL – Shaun Tait holds the record for the quickest at 157.7 kph – and second-best by an Indian behind Umran Malik.
Mayank‘s effort was praised by one and all, but the night became even sweeter for the Indian youngster when he received a stamp of approval from none other than the OG pace king himself, Brett Lee. The former Australia quick shared a brilliant post on Mayank, which read “India has just found its fastest bowler. Mayank Yadav, Raw pace. Very impressive”
Making his IPL debut representing the Lucknow Super Giants, Yadav finished with figures of 3/27, for which he was adjudged Player of the Match as LSG defeated Punjab Kings by 21 runs for their first win of the season. Of the 24 balls bowled, Mayank crossed the 145 kmph or more in 18 of those, is a remarkable feat in itself. Introduced in the 10th over of the innings, Mayank was hit for two boundaries – one each by Jonny Bairstow and Shikhar Dhawan.
But he began his second over and the 12th of the innings by clocking a speed that now promises to make him a household name. Bowled at almost 156kph, his pace beat Dhawan for pace as the PBKS captain gave himself room but failed to connect bat to ball. However, that wasn’t all. Mayank built on it and went on to bowl one thunderbolt after the other, including a 153 kmph ripper in the same over and choked the life out of the PBKS innings.
The Kings were making good progress in their chase of 200, reaching 102 before another rip-roaring delivery rushed Bairstow into playing a rash shot to lost his wicket. His third over was equally menacing as he dismissed Prabhsimran Singh and followed it with the wicket of the dangerous Jitesh Sharma in his last over, which included speeds to 152 kph, 153 kph and 154 kph. Truly sensational.
Last season’s injury was tough: Mayank
Mayank was picked by LSG ahead of the IPL 2023 auction for his base price of ₹20 lakh, but the pacer unfortunately had to miss the entire season due to injury. Nonetheless, as the old adage goes, better late than never. LSG did a great job keeping Mayank a secret as when it was his time to shine, he simply blew away the opposition.
“I’ve always heard from others there’s nervousness in debuts but that goes away after the first ball. Plan was to not be under too much pressure and to bowl at the stumps and use the pace as much as possible. There was the thought to mix up the pace initially but the wicket helped and the skipper told me to bowl gas. The debut wicket was the favourite. Coming off the injury last season was tough, I’d set my goal to debut at a young age but injuries were a setback,” he said after winning the POTM award.
As Mayank mixed pace with accuracy making him unplayable, LSG’s stand-in captain Nicholas Pooran had one of the best seats in the house watching the express pacer operate in full flow. Calling Mayank’s spell the ‘story of the night’, Pooran said Mayank’s performance inspired the team while pointing out that the teammates were extremely glad and happy that the rookie got a chance and impressed straightaway.
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