Sometimes the ball was bowled at a speed of 156.7 kmph… In the comeback match, the bowler yearned for the wicket, the speed is there but the edge is missing.

New Delhi. Hardly any cricket lover will be able to forget that night of IPL 2024, when a speed of 156.7 km per hour was created at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow, which shook the batsmen all over the world. Mayank Yadav is a name which became the future of Indian fast bowling overnight. But after a long gap of injury, when Mayank returned to the same Ekana ground, the story seemed completely changed. Mayank’s speed was visible in the match against Rajasthan Royals, but that ‘edge’ which had made him special was missing.

In the match against Rajasthan Royals, the bowlers of Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) showed excellent discipline and restricted the opposition team to just 159 runs. While the entire team was bowling with an economy of less than 8 runs per over, Mayank Yadav was the only bowler who was targeted by the batsmen. Mayank gave away 56 runs in his quota of 4 overs, while no other bowler of the team even crossed the 30 mark. The surprising thing was that Mayank was still touching the speed of 149.4 km per hour. But the bitter truth of modern T20 cricket is that if you have only speed and not direction, then the batsman uses the same speed to score boundaries. This is exactly what happened with Mayank, his balls often drifted on the pads, making him very easy to play.

Mohsin Khan’s perfect example
Amidst this failure of Mayank Yadav, his fellow bowler Mohsin Khan presented a masterclass. Like Mayank, Mohsin has also returned after battling serious injuries, but the changes he has made in his bowling are like a lesson for Mayank. Mohsin showed that just throwing fast is not enough, but combination is the real key. While Mayank was only swinging between ‘cutter’ and ‘fast ball’, Mohsin had laid out a chessboard on the field. Mohsin bowled ‘hard length’ balls in the powerplay and after that played with his pace. He put pressure on a young batsman like Vaibhav Suryavanshi by bowling 5 dot balls, which is a rare sight in IPL history. After this, he defeated power-hitters like Shimron Hetmyer with his mental bowling. After the slower ball of 115, suddenly a hard length ball with a speed of 139 dodged Hetmyer and he returned to the pavilion after giving the top-edge.

Experience and skill gap
In the comparison between Mohsin and Mayank, it was clearly seen that Mohsin had worked on his ‘arsenal’ during the injury. The old one-sided style is still visible in Mayank’s bowling. Prince Yadav also set an example for Mayank, who made a brilliant comeback after conceding 13 runs in his first over and took 2 wickets for just 16 runs in the next 3 overs. Mayank Yadav’s record (156.7 km per hour) registers him in the pages of history, but to be successful on the field, he will have to upgrade his skills. Speed ​​is a gift, but control and the ability to withstand pressure is a practice.

The way forward for Mayank
This criticism is not to humiliate Mayank, but to show him a mirror. Bowling at a speed close to 150 even after two major injuries is a testament to his physical ability. But if he wants to cement his place at the international level, he will have to develop variations like Mohsin Khan. Mohsin has shown how the injury break can be used to learn new balls. Mayank still has time, but he has to understand that on a stage like IPL, it is impossible to survive only on speed. If Mayank can control his line-length and slower balls in the coming matches, then he can again become the same ‘dreaded Mayank’ who wreaked havoc against RCB in 2024.