Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) pacer Mayank Yadav hobbled off the field after picking his first wicket of the night against Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Ekana Stadium on Tuesday (Apr 30). The apparent injury to Mayank, whose extent is yet unknown, has led to speculations online that LSG captain KL Rahul had rushed the express pacer back into the squad. 

After winning the toss, Rahul was quizzed about Mayank’s return to the matchday squad where the skipper revealed he had been pushing the medical staff for the pacer’s return.  

“He bowled really well and had huge impact for us. As a captain, I was tempted to bring him to the team as quickly as possible,” said Rahul. 

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“I keep pushing the physios and medical staffs to give him the confidence. He was eager to go but it’s important for him to get enough confidence in the nets. He has to come here and bowl fast without thinking much about the injury,” he added. 

Mayank was not at his fluent best, as was evident in the first over of the night when he bowled a no-ball and wide to kickstart the proceedings. He did manage to go unscathed in the next couple of overs but upon being summoned to bowl the penultimate over, Mayank felt something. 

He bowled an express delivery straight on the stumps which Afghan veteran Mohammad Nabi could not keep out. But as Gerald Coetzee arrived on the crease to face the pacer, Mayank could be seen hobbling off the field. His teammate Naveen-ul-Haq stepped up and bowled the remaining five deliveries to close out the over. 

Notably, Mayank was making a comeback into the squad, having missed the last few games for the franchise after playing only three games. 

LSG contain MI

Bowling first, LSG bowlers never allowed the MI batters to get used to the slow and tacky nature of the pitch. The MI batters were forced to hit towards the longer square region and in the process lost their wickets. 

The five-time champions didn’t help their cause when some of the batters got out playing extremely loose shots. In the end, the visitors finished with only 144 on board. If it wasn’t for Tim David’s late flourish, the scoreboard could have been more dire.   

Playing XI’s:

Lucknow Super Giants: KL Rahul (C)(WK), Marcus Stoinis, Deepak Hooda, Nicholas Pooran, Ashton Turner, Ayush Badoni, Krunal Pandya, Naveen-ul-Haq, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohsin Khan, Mayank Yadav

Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan (WK), Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Nehal Wadhera, Hardik Pandya (C), Tim David, Mohammad Nabi, Piyush Chawla, Gerald Coetzee, Jasprit Bumrah

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