Lucknow Super Giants' (LSG) speed sensation Mayank Yadav regained fitness and played his first match of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 but he is yet to regain his pace. Against Mumbai Indians (MI), he had a trial by fire as opener Rohit Sharma hit him for two consecutive sixes. It was a slower ball from Mayank that dismissed Rohit. He conceded 35 runs from three overs but bowled well in slog overs and kept Naman Dhir quiet. After Mi's comprehensive win, Dhir who scored just two runs from four balls in the 16th over bowled by Mayank, said that he doesn't think about the young bowler's pace and considers him as another bowler.
“It's nothing special. He is bowling, I am batting; it's nothing special. It's another bowler to face for me. I won't say I prepared much against him. Yes, I watched his videos of what he will bowl and what shots I can play, but I would say it's another bowler for me to face,” Dhir said in the post-match press conference.
On the first ball of the 16th over, Mayank knocked over MI captain Hardik Pandya. In the over, he conceded five more runs including two wides. He finished with two wickets for 40 runs in his quota of four overs.
In the next over, Dhir hit Prince Yadav four two fours. In the penultimate over, he hit Digvesh Rathi for a six. He finished the innings with a maximum off Avesh Khan and helped MI post 215/7 on the board at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. He remained unbeaten for 25 off just 11 deliveries.
Dhir who was retained via Right to Match (RTM) card by MI has scored 155 runs from seven innings at an average of 38.75 in IPL 2025. His strike rate is 184.52. The explosive batter has been used as a floater by MI team management.
LSG mentor on Mayank's speed
After the match, LSG mentor Zaheer Khan talked about Mayank's return and that it is not easy to make a comeback as fast bowler in the team. He said that Mayank's speed is only going to improve as he plays more.
"The wait was long, and for anyone who's playing after so many months, to get back into the game is always that one hurdle which one needs to cross as a bowler. That's why, if you see from our side, the effort was to bring him in as Impact [Player] in the last couple of games. Even though he had joined the team, we were taking our time just to create that comfort around it," Zaheer said in the post-match press conference.
"I know that fast bowling is never easy, especially in this format, when the batters are coming so hard at you. So that was the thought process. I'm glad that he has got through the game. That one hurdle is crossed, so I'm hopeful that with the scheduling which we have, there will be enough breaks also for him to recover and then go again.
"I'm happy with the way he's bowled. It's important that he had to get through the game, so he stayed on the 20 overs, bowled his four overs. The execution is only going to get better. The speeds are only going to get better as he plays more. Considering all things, I'm happy with the way he's gone about considering it's his first game."