In an endearing gesture, Lucknow Super Giants young pacer Mayank Yadav invited his teammate Shamar Joseph to click picture together after winning the player of the match for his bowling performance against Punjab Kings at Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on Saturday, March 30.
Mayank Yadav grabbed the headlines with his brilliant bowling performance on his IPL debut. The 20-year-old bowled the fastest delivery in IPL 2024, clocking 155.8 in the 12th over of the Punjab Kings' run-chase. It was also the fastest delivery by an Indian bowler in the IPL history.
Yadav played an instrumental role in helping Lucknow Super Giants restrict Punjab Kings to 178/5 while defending the total of 199/8. Yadav registered the figures of 3/27 with an economy rate of 6.80 in four overs.
Mayank Yadav deservingly won the Player of the Match award for his bowling performance. After collecting the award, the Delhi-born cricketer invited his teammate Shamar Joseph to click the picture together with the award. The picture of the same went viral on social media.
Shamar Joseph was shot to fame for his exceptional bowling performance in the West Indies' historic Test win against Australia at The Gabba. He scalped six wickets in Australia's 216-run chase. Joseph was added to Lucknow Super Giants squad as a replacement for Mark Wood, who ruled out of the IPL 2024 in order to manage his workload ahead of the T20 World Cup 2024.
'Everyone said to not take too much pressure': Mayank Yadav
Lucknow Super Giants pacer Mayank Yadav admitted that he was nervous before walking out to the field for his IPL debut but nerves were calmed after his first delivery. The young pacer didn't expect his debut IPL game would go well and credited stand-in skipper Nicholas Pooran for encouraging to go with the pace.
"I didn't really think it (my debut) would go that well. I have heard from the others that there can be nervousness on debut. But after the first ball, all my nervousness went away. Everyone said to not take too much pressure, just bowl on the stumps, and use the pace. That's what I did." the 20-year-old said.
"I thought I might need to use the slower ball, but there was help from the wicket, the captain (Pooran) said to just go with the pace. The debut wicket was my favorite." he added.
Jonny Bairstow was the first victim of Mayank Yadav in IPL. Representing Delhi in domestic, Mayank has 11 T20s and picked 15 wickets.
