Mayank Yadav’s searing pace and match-winning spell of 3/27 on his IPL debut against Punjab Kings last Saturday have earned a lot of praise. According to Stuart Broad, if Mayank keeps maintaining the tempo, he could even feature in the India squad for the five-Test tour of Australia later this year.
“India play five Test matches against Australia in Australia and he (Mayank) looks like having it in him to perform there. I keep saying to Steve Smith, ‘You’re going to be facing this boy in the winter.’ But of course, he’s really an exciting prospect.
“He has also got a good wrist position, which can help him swing the red ball as well away from the batsman... Feel we’ll see him making
his debut for India in the coming months,” the former England pacer, with 604 Test wickets, said at a news conference, facilitated by Star Sports,
on Monday.
Given the tiring IPL season, Broad feels the Lucknow Super Giants need to be a little more selective in including the 21-year-old quick in their XI. “Mayank truly has great attributes: very calm, small strides and patterned run-up with great flow.
“But the key is, we, as fans, don’t get ahead of ourselves and start thinking he’s going to win LSG all these IPL games. You need to pick the games he should be playing in, pick the batting line-ups that may struggle against pace and not play every game as the IPL season is very tiring.
“But then, he looks like having the attributes of playing every single format,” Broad stated.
Broad also looks forward to see how Mayank fares against Virat Kohli when the Lucknow side take on Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the Chinnaswamy on Tuesday.
Advice for Starc
Mitchell Starc, the most expensive buy ever at the IPL for Rs 24.75 crore, has been wicketless in two matches so far and smashed for 100 runs in the eight overs he has bowled so far in IPL 2024. For Broad, the leading Australia quick should concentrate more on bringing the ball back into the batsman, which is his strength.
“He (Starc) may be lacking a little bit of rhythm, but I think tactically, when I’m watching him up close at the moment, he’s trying to wobble the ball across the right-hander. When bowling to someone like a Virat Kohli, you look to bring in the outside edge.
“But Mitchell Starc’s greatest strength is when he swings it at a 145kmph back into the stumps. That ball, at that pace, swinging back into
the stumps, is one of the most dangerous balls in world cricket.
“If I was the KKR bowling coach, I would say, ‘Mitch, forget the price tag. Write me down your three greatest strengths and then stick to them. Stick to what you believe in.’
“So, he should look to hit those stumps, swing that ball back in to hit the off-stump, and go back to his strengths.”
