Lucknow Super Giants head coach Justin Langer has revealed that gun fast bowler Mayank Yadav has been all but ruled out of the rest of the Indian Premier League. Yadav has suffered a muscle tear in the same area in which he earlier suffered an injury.
After bowling 3.1 overs against MI, Yadav complained of pain and he could not complete his quota of four overs.
Earlier in the season, Yadav suffered an abdomen injury after playing three matches. Yadav was awarded the Player of the Match in the first two matches he played as he bagged three wickets each against Punjab Kings and Royal Challengers Bengaluru but could only bowl a solitary over against Gujarat Titans.
After regaining full fitness, Yadav returned to action against MI but could not go through the whole match.
“He [Mayank] just had a scan. He has got a small tear in a similar area to his last injury. It is very unfortunate. He had his rehabilitation and went into the [Mumbai Indians] game completely pain-free,” said Langer in the pre-match press conference.
“We will be praying that he can play hopefully in the playoff. But I am a realist. It will probably be difficult for him to return for the backend of the tournament.”
Meanwhile, KKR has won seven out of their 10 matches in the ongoing season and LSG will need to bring their best against the Shreyas Iyer-led team.
“They [KKR] are playing well. They have won seven and we have won six. We are both in pretty good form and it will be a good contest. GG [Gautam Gambhir] was here last year. So, he knows our squad very well. But this is like facing bowling. We can know as much as we want to know about each other. Everyone knew Shane Warne had a flipper. But you still had to face it and have an answer in the middle. It just comes out to what you do out in the middle,” pointed out Langer.
The former Australian opener showered praise on Sunil Narine, who has done a fantastic job for KKR at the top of the order. Narine has amassed 380 runs in 10 matches of IPL 2024.
“Narine at the top order is someone we have to work very hard at. When you have Narine opening the batting as a specialist bowler, then it means they bat very deep. We are aware of that and have done our homework.”
LSG will face KKR at the Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow on Sunday.
