Lucknow Super Giants head coach Justin Langer has provided an update on tearaway pacer Mayank Yadav, who is on the sidelines due to the back and toe injuries he sustained. Speaking after LSG's 12-run win over Mumbai Indians at home, Langer has stated that Mayank is up and running and at the BCCI's Centre of Excellence.
While Langer didn't provide a return timeline of Mayank, he is bowling at '90 to 95%' and is keen to return. "What I do know is he's working very hard at the NCA and I saw some video of him bowling yesterday (Thursday) and he was bowling at about 90 to 95%," LSG coach Langer said at the post-match press conference.
"So Mayank's up and running, which is really great for Indian cricket and IPL. We saw the impact he had last year. I don't think there's been a bowler in India who's bowled faster than Mayank Yadav. That's why there's so much talk about him," he added.
Langer said that Mayank is keen to go and also credited the BCCI CoE for putting in the efforts in helping players recover. LSG missed the likes of Avesh Khan, Akash Deep and Mayank Yadav at the start of the 2025 season, but now have the first two back in the side for the tournament.
"He's up, he's keen to get going. He bowled really well in Bangalore yesterday at the NCA. I think you have another couple of bowls and hopefully...NCA, to their credit, have obviously done a very good job because they've got Avesh Khan back for us, they've got our Akash Deep back for us. So we really appreciate the work they're doing to get the boys back playing and now hopefully Mayank as well," Langer said.
Last month when the tournament was in its early days, Langer had spoke on Mayank, stating that he had picked up a toe infection and would be available for the back end of the tournament. "Mayank, who everyone was very excited about last year, he was going quite well (coming back from a back injury), and he kicked his toe on the bed," Langer had said.
"He got an infection in his toe. It's put his rehab back about a week or two weeks. But he's up and running. We regularly see videos of him bowling. I saw a video of his yesterday. So, hopefully by the back end of the tournament, Mayank will be up and ready to go for us," he had added.
LSG had a depleted pace attack as Mohsin Khan (ruled out), Avesh Khan, Akash Deep and Mayank Yadav were not available. However, Avesh has now played the last three of the four matches for LSG, while Akash made a return for the MI game. Shardul Thakur has replaced Mohsin, and LSG are hopeful Mayank will be back soon.
