LSG's Mayank Yadav bowls against the Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium. (Express Photo by Amit Chakravarty)Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) ace pacer Mayank Yadav returned to action in the Indian Premier League 2025 after recovering from a lower back injury, which kept him away for more than six months. He made his comeback against Mumbai Indians and picked two wickets — big scalps of Rohit Sharma and MI skipper Hardik Pandya — in his first game. However, the speed merchant has lost significant pace and has been quite expensive in the two outings he has had in this IPL.
But, the Delhi pacer believes that the drop in his speeds after returning from an injury layoff “is normal”, and said that he needs to give his body time to return to the same match intensity and fitness standards.
“This is normal. I had a major injury because of which I was out of cricket for five to six months. The body will adapt and take its own time. I will have to give some time to my body and my bowling to get those speeds back. There have been no changes in my bowling technique,” said Mayank ahead of LSG’s game against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in Lucknow on Friday.
“There is no drastic change in my strategy. I will continue to do what I used to. My body is taking a little time. I have not seen the intensity (and) the match pressure for a while now. So it is very normal that the body is responding a little differently after a major injury. I don’t have a different mindset or intent. That remains the same. But I need to read the wickets and the batsmen quicker,” Mayank was quoted by ESPNcricinfo.
Mayank came into the limelight during IPL 2024, where he was impressive for LSG. He bowled the fastest delivery of the tournament, clocking 156.7 kmph and was fast-tracked for the national team as well.
LSG are struggling in the standings after their campaign seemed to have derailed in the latter half of the league. Mayank accepted that LSG have made mistakes in the tournament so far, but backed his skipper Rishabh Pant, who is having a terrible tournament, to bounce back.
“We have been a little late in assessing the grounds and the wickets. We have made mistakes there; I’ll accept that. But we have three matches, and if we win that, there might be a chance we can make the playoffs,” said Mayank.
“I have known Rishabh bhaiya for a while now because we play for the same club in Delhi,” he said. “Whenever I have spoken to him, I have not felt that he is under pressure. He is confidently talking to me about the game, about the situation, (and) about the opposition batsmen,” he added.
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