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Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) speedster Mayank Yadav was exceptional in his debut outing of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2024) against Punjab Kings (PBKS) on Saturday, March 30.
Yadav took the Punjab batters by surprise with his express pace. Apart from his pace, he also showed great control, finishing with fantastic figures of 4-0-27-3. He claimed the wickets of Jonny Bairstow, Prabhsimran Singh, and Jitesh Sharma. Furthermore, Yadav clocked 155.8 on the speed gun, bowling the fastest ball in IPL 2024 so far.
Lucknow shared a video on its official social media handles following their 21-run win over Punjab, in which Yadav disclosed that he had around 4,000 Instagram followers before the match. There has been an exponential rise in his followers. At the time of writing, the count stands at 91,000.
Speaking about his followers, Yadav said:
"Before this game, I had 4,000 followers. I am normal (on increase in followers), I think. I don't care about Instagram much. I am very happy about the wickets."
Mayank Yadav was adjudged the Player of the Match for his stunning blowing exploits. He earned praise from all quarters, with fans and experts lauding him for his performance.
"After the first ball, all my nervousness went away" - Mayank Yadav on his IPL 2024 debut
Mayank Yadav spoke about how he didn't expect his IPL debut to be such a successful outing. He mentioned that while there was some nervousness, it all disappeared after he bowled his first ball.
The talented youngster did not try a lot of variations and backed his speed to do the job. He suggested that with the pitch offering some help for fast bowlers, he decided not to use the slower delivery.
Speaking at the post-match presentation, Yadav said:
"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. 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."
LSG will now take on Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Tuesday, April 2.
