Lucknow Super Giants' (LSG) tearaway pacer Mayank Yadav is set to join the camp for his IPL side on Tuesday, April 15 after missing the first half of the season due to recovery from a back issue. Yadav has been out of action since October 2024 due to a back injury after a couple of T20Is he played for India against Bangladesh and since then, has been at the BCCI's Centre of Excellence (CoE) to recover. LSG head coach on April 4 had confirmed that Yadav, who was one of five retentions for the side, was 90-95 per cent fit and he couldn't wait for him to join the franchise.
As per an ESPNCricinfo report, Yadav is likely to be available for the Super Giants' next game against the Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur on April 19. Lucknow Super Giants were hamstrung by the availability of their Indian pacers at the start of the season, or the lack of it, with Mohsin Khan being ruled out and Avesh Khan and Akash Deep getting available only at a later stage in the tournament.
Shardul Thakur was picked as Mohsin's replacement by the Super Giants and actually has done well, being the joint-second highest wicket-taker of the tournament with 11 scalps but it is Digvesh Rathi, who has bloomed from nothingness to being a middle-over dependable with the ball.
LSG's bowling attack wasn't given a chance before the tournament but has been able to defend a score of 203 against the Mumbai Indians and restricted teams like Sunrisers Hyderabad and Gujarat Titans to scores of 190 and 180 respectively. Their batting has done the heavy lifting so far and in games where the opposition bowlers did well, like on Monday, LSG were found wanting.
LSG are a critical juncture as far as their campaign is concerned with four wins and three losses, Yadav's return will bolster a bowling attack that has looked the part but hasn't blown away opponents.
