IPL 2018 Auction: 10 things to know about Shivam Mavi

Indian Under-19 pacer Shivam Mavi was always going to be one to look out for in the IPL 2018 Auctions along with his longtime roommate and fellow pacer Kamlesh Nagarkoti, following their heroics at the ongoing 2018 U-19 World Cup in New Zealand.

The pace with which the duo have been bowling has certainly generated a lot of headlines but even more impressive is the control and accuracy with which they have troubled the opposition batsman.

Nagarkoti earned a whopping sum of Rs 3.2 crore at the first day of the IPL 2018 auction on Saturday and hoping to rekindle the partnership at the U-19 World Cup in the IPL as well, Kolkata Knight Riders came back on Sunday to pick up Mavi as well, with a price of Rs 3 crore for the 19-year-old.

Nagarkoti and Mavi have been an outstanding pair for the Indian U-19 side for quite some time now, as was evident with their performances on the away tour to England in 2017 and it will be interesting to see how the partnership unfolds in the IPL where they might be playing alongside another pace sensation in Australia's Mitchell Starc.

Here are 10 things you need to know about Shivam Mavi:

#1 Mavi was born in Sina, a small village in Meerut, but moved to Noida at an early age as his father thought that would help in getting a better education for his children. Little did his father know though that Mavi would be spending more time playing cricket than in school.

#2 Mavi started out as a batsman initially before he joined the Wanderers Cricket Academy in Noida, where coach Phoolchand Sharma made him realise that his true potential lay as a fast bowler

#3 His teammates refer to him as a "mean fast bowler" and not without reason. While opposition batsmen used to get scared facing up to Mavi's quick deliveries, often having to duck and sometimes even getting hit on the helmet, the youngster used to thrive on the fear.

#4 No wonder then that Mavi names South African speedster Dale Steyn as his idol and favourite player

#5 His childhood coach Phoolchand Sharma used to make him play outside of his age group to aid his development and there was a time that he used to play almost non-stop cricket for nearly two months.

#6 Mavi lost almost a year to injury after damaging the Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) in his left leg and the setback forced the youngster to cut down on his pace and he modified his action to transform himself from being an outswing specialist to an inswing bowler.

#7 Mavi wants to specialise in bowling yorkers with the older ball and trains separately at the nets to achieve this, with just a set of stumps and line markers.

#8 Mavi played for the Delhi U-14 side but being omitted from the U-16 side for reasons he believes were not performance-linked, the youngster moved to Uttar Pradesh where he has been a regular at various age groups over the past 4 years.

#9 Mavi impressed Afghanistan head coach and former Indian player Lalchand Rajput while bowling at the nets to the Afghan national team and he also managed to pick up 4 wickets in a friendly match between his local T20 side and the Nepal senior team ahead of the 2016 World T20.

#10 Mavi finished schooling from City Public School in Noida and is currently pursuing Bachelor’s in Business Administration (BBA) at Al-Falah University in Faridabad.