Mayank Yadav be Fit for IPL 2025? Zaheer Khan Provides an Update
Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) is working on Mayank’s return and fitness roadmap at the National Cricket Academy (NCA). LSG coach Justin Langer and mentor Zaheer Khan are quite hopeful about Mayank’s return but do not want to rush things.
Zaheer Khan told reporters in Lucknow, “We have had some interesting discussions with the NCA regarding his recovery and fitness roadmap, and we are working together with them. We hope for cooperation from their side as well, so that they adopt the thinking that a young player should be taken care of properly, because he is important not only for LSG but also for Indian cricket.”
For Mayank, IPL 2024 was a year full of injuries, which also saw glimpses of his brilliant performances for LSG and India. He won the Player of the Match award in two of his first three matches in IPL 2024. During that time, he bowled fiery spells at a speed of over 150kph. But in the fourth match, he suffered from stomach pain, due to which he was ruled out of the entire tournament. After this, he started rehab at the NCA and recovered from that injury, but then suffered a different injury during bowling at the NCA.
In October, he also got a chance in the Indian team. He was included in the three-match T20I series against Bangladesh. During his debut in that series, he achieved a speed of over 145kph consistently. He took a total of four wickets in the series and the enthusiasm towards him increased in the Indian cricket world, but after that he suffered another injury. Since then he has not played any competitive match, but LSG has retained him for Rs 11 crore before IPL 2025.
Zaheer said that physically preparing Mayank for the workload of such fast bowling is their main priority. He said, “You know that for a bowler with that kind of talent, it is very important to play continuously for a long time, and that is where I am putting all my hard work and energy. Our aim is to provide him with such a great environment, so that he can play for a long time and does not have to take breaks due to injury again and again. I think this is very important, and we are moving forward with this mindset.”
“We want him to play in IPL 2025. Not 100%, but 150% fit. We will make every possible effort to get him there.” Coach Langer also spoke in the same direction and said that young fast bowlers (Mayank is currently 22 years old) take time to develop their physical strength and recover from injuries.
Langer said, “We know that he is a great bowler. We also saw him last year. His speed was exceptional. So we have high hopes, but he is a young fast bowler. It doesn’t matter which country you come from. Bowling so fast is a very difficult task. It takes time for the young body to handle it and develop it. So we are positive, but we will have to wait and see how things progress.”
Rishabh Pant will captain LSG in IPL 2025. He became the most expensive player in the history of IPL auction and was bought for Rs 27 crore. Zaheer and Langer both expressed enthusiasm about his talent.
Zaheer said, “I have no doubt about the level of player he is. I hope that when he captains, he will play in his natural style. We want to put the same mindset in the team as well. When we saw him as the captain, we were also looking at the way LSG plays cricket. We want LSG to play cricket in the same way as Rishabh Pant plays.”
Langer said, “I think the most important person in T20 cricket is the captain. If I am choosing a team, my first choice will be the captain. So we are very happy to have Rishabh in the team. He has a different kind of freedom, talent and style, due to which he can make a big impact as both captain and player.”
