Delhi’s young pacer Mayank Yadav has taken the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League by storm with his lethal pace being one of the biggest talking points in Indian cricket currently. Mayank received the ‘Player of the Match’ in his first two games. He is currently on the second spot in the purple cap race with six wickets from just two matches. Delhi's young pacer is asking batters questions that they don't seem to have answers for as of now but Australian batting icons Matthew Hayden and Steve Smith have pointed out the flaw in Mayank's bowling and even told how to counter his raw pace.
Hayden reveals how to counter Mayank's pace
Former Australian opener Matthew Hayden said Steve Smith was keeping a close eye on Mayank’s bowling against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) during the commentary in the green room. Hayden also highlighted how to counter someone with pace like Mayank Dagar. He even adviced that batters should allow the ball to come to them.
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"One of the things that happens in this competition is that all eye balls, all those great players watching him, they are working out strategies of how they are going to play him. If you bang it on length and the pace is fast, it's tough to hit. And the way you've to play someone of that pace is that you need to allow the ball to come to you. Not try to force it off the front foot or back foot. Just absorb the pressure and the ball will do the rest because of the pace of the delivery," Hayden said on Star Sports.
Former Australian skipper Steve Smith who is currently a part of the commentary team after being unsold in the IPL 2024 auction also seemed quite eager to face young Mayank Yadav. Smith praised young Mayank but also pointed out the lack of variation as a potential flaw in his bowling.
"There is a difference between bowling four overs and having a ball 20. Mayank Yadav's growth from what I've seen so far is not giving much rubbish. So he's hitting good areas, bowling a good short line, and the thing with these young players that come in the poll, that kind of pace. If they spray it around a bit, that's when you go the distance and go the journey. But at the moment, he's just hitting such good areas. You actually have to take risks of good balls and when it's coming down at 155 clicks, it is not an easy task". Smith said on Star Sports.
"If you look at all those balls, there wasn’t one slower ball there, so you don’t have to worry about that at this stage. He might have it in his armoury, we haven’t seen it yet but you can probably trust to get inside the line or maybe give a bit of room and use the pace and let it come to you," he added.
Mayank's heroics lead LSG to win against RCB
Mayank’s astonishing bowling spell of 3/14 in four overs against RCB proved to be the match-winning for Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). He picked up the big wickets of Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, and Cameron Green and rattled the Bengaluru batting line-up. RCB was chasing the target of 182 but got all out for 153 in 19.4 overs. LSG won the match by 28 runs and moved to the fourth position in the points table.
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