Lucknow Super Giant fielding coach Jonty Rhodes has revealed Morne Morkel’s impression of Mayank Yadav. The gun fast bowler impressed one and all with his raw pace and also his accuracy with line and length in IPL 2024.
The 22-year-old pacer from Delhi bowled consistently in excess of 145 kmph and breathed down the neck of the opposition batters with his brisk pace.
Yadav’s IPL 2024 was cut short after he suffered an abdominal injury and was ruled out of the tournament after picking seven wickets in four matches. Rhodes recalled that his compatriot called Yadav as LSG’s Rolls Royce.
Jonty Rhodes said on ANI, “I’m not a bowling coach, but Morne Morkel, during the previous season, when Mayank got injured at the start of the preparation, literally Morne said, ‘Wow, this guy (Mayank Yadav), he’s like the Rolls Royce of bowlers, similar to how we used to call Allan Donald a Rolls Royce. He is LSG’s Rolls Royce.”
“He had a whole season with the team and that’s why the owners decided to keep him with the team, he did all his rehab throughout the IPL and stayed a part of the unit because we really believe that he is a young guy with extreme talent and we saw him in the games that he played and everybody was really monitoring him not wrapping him in cotton wool,” Rhodes added.
Yadav has been troubled with injuries in the last couple of seasons and Rhodes wants LSG to handle the fast bowler’s workload with care.
“We saw what happened with Umran Malik who burst onto the scenes at sheer pace we all got excited, but you know the question is can the player bowl to the game plan that’s because they’re bowling some of the best batters in the world and sometimes on really good surfaces so if you’ve just got pace and you can’t bowl in good areas or with good skill, the better players will hit you out the ground.”
“So I think from a point of view where LSG haven’t worried about, or haven’t gone, let’s wrap him in cotton wool, because then he comes to the game, you never know what’s going to happen.
“But the preparation is key and hopefully, you know, through the season when the off season and now the season again by the time he comes to IPL and if he’s playing with LSG again or even if he’s not playing for LSG I just hope Mayank is bowling and is fit for the whole IPL because there’s a talent that is exciting.”
Yadav has shown the skills to go a long way in his career and it is imperative for him to stay away from injuries.
