Lucknow Super Giants’ Mayank Yadav bowls a delivery during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 T20 cricket match between Lucknow Super Giants and Punjab Kings, at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Stadium, in Lucknow. (PTI)
Former Australian quick Brett Lee has tore into the Lucknow Super Giants hierarchy on Tuesday after their slender win against Mumbai Indians saw the 23-year-old pace sensation Mayank Yadav – making a comeback from a side strain injury – leave the pitch without completing his four-overs quota. This, after he complained ‘feeling sore in the same spot’, as shared by LSG head coach Justin Langer afterwards.
Lambasting the franchise, Lee told JioCinema, “A side strain or whatever they’re calling it, normally takes at least four to six weeks to even come right. We don’t know the depths of how big a strain it was but for somebody who is pushing the limits of their body by bowling 150 kmph, that’s not good management at all. His first game coming back and getting injured, has to directly be on the leadership and the medical staff of the Lucknow Super Giants.
“The only person who has to pay this price is this poor young guy Mayank, who is just electric. Everyone in the IPL has loved seeing what he’s brought… You wish he got the right advice, so he doesn’t have to go through and absorb this. Now, it’s most probably going to mean that he’s going to miss out on the World Cup if there’s an injury that might come up,” Lee added.
Mayank had made an immediate impression with the ball for Lucknow in the first half of the season – snapping six wickets in his first two games for the franchise before he was pulled out during the game against Gujarat owing to a side strain. The 23-year-old subsequently missed out on the next five games for LSG before he was added to Lucknow’s playing XI for Tuesday but wasn’t able to wrap up his spell.
Lucknow Super Giants’s Mayank Yadav celebrates after taking the wicket of Royal Challengers Bengaluru batter Cameron Green during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 T20 cricket match between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Lucknow Super Giants, at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, in Bengaluru, Tuesday, April 2, 2024. (PTI Photo)
“I have not really spoken to him,” LSG skipper KL Rahul said at the post-match presentation. “He was out in the last game because of a slight pain in his side, not a side strain, but slight pain there. After the first ball [of his fourth over], he said the same thing, ‘thoda dukh raha hai [it’s hurting a bit]’. So I said might as well go out and not risk the next five balls. He is still young and precious to us, so we need to look after him.”
While there was a buzz around the young pacer – consistently clocking the 150KPH mark – ahead of the upcoming T20 World Cup, a persistent injury has dashed hopes of an India debut anytime soon.
Lavishing praise on the Indian pacer after his exploits earlier this season, England veteran Stuart Broad had put Mayank as a likely contender for India’s Test squad for a five-match Test series in Australia later this year.
“You don’t need to get far ahead. But I have already texted Steve Smith. If you are seeing this guy in Australia in the Test series, get used to it,” Broad had quipped on Star Sports.
Get latest updates on IPL 2024 from IPL Points Table to Teams, Schedule, Most Runs and Most Wickets along with live score updates for all matches. Also get Sports news and more cricket updates.
