Mayank isn't just about his fiery pace

Bnegaluru: Prabhu Yadav is used to numerous phone calls a day but they’re usually of the work variety where he is haggling price points for sirens to be sold to the police and ambulances. 

Of late, however, he’s getting swamped with calls of another variety. These are calls from those interested in the story of his son - Mayank.  

‘Minty’, as far as his father is concerned, is a shy boy who loves to lounge about and talk  cricket. As far as the world is concerned, he’s a 21-year-old tearaway paceman who has put the fear of God in those wielding a bat. 

Former West Indian paceman Ian Bishop tagged him ‘the child of the wind’ on X after Mayank ran through Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s batting line-up with a spell of 4-0-14-3 on Tuesday night. 

“…it’s funny because I used to call him ‘toofan’ (storm) when he was a child running around our home, he would bump into things all the time,” says Prabhu when told about Bishop’s label. 

“But he was destined to bowl fast, I didn’t think he would get so fast, but he always had that bony frame with long legs. I knew before going to Ustaad ji that Minty had something in him.”

‘Ustaad ji’ is the legendary coach Tarak Sinha, and the academy that Prabhu wanted Mayank to go to was the Sonnet Cricket Club. Yes, the same one Rishabh Pant is from.

So, around six years ago, Mayank showed up ‘with weak knees from fear’ and bowled in front of Tarak and the coach’s eventual successor Devendra Sharma.

“He had a lovely frame, Ustaad ji was sure we could work with it and if we put some strength in his legs, he would be dangerous,” says Devendra. “All he had done until that point was run, but we had to introduce other, more weight-driven, workouts to ensure he would have the strength. As for his action, it was very natural. We rarely had to tweak it.”

Sonnet would take the young kid on and provide him with all he needed without the typical club fee. They were testing times for the Yadav family, which was still reeling from the financial dent caused by Covid-19 so it was one less thing to worry about. 

“We were worried a little before that because a couple of clubs turned him down, they wouldn’t even let Mayank bowl to see if he was any good,” recalls Prabhu. “We didn’t have much money, but I had a dream for Mayank, and he had a vision. It was my job to ensure he sees it through.”

It wouldn’t be long before ‘Ustaad ji’s recommendations would be taken seriously and the Delhi senior team would take on the boy. Only, Sinha would not live to see the day the boy he was so fond of would make his Vijay Hazare debut. 

Sinha passed away in November. Mayank played against Haryana in December. He would play two games that season and finish with six wickets. A year later, he would make his first-class debut against Maharashtra and pick up a couple of wickets in 17.2 overs. 

Then came the rib fracture and a subsequent hamstring concern. Prabhu admits that no one knows how Mayank picked it up but it set his career back a year or so because selecting him was a gamble. Still, he had done enough for Indian Premier League scouts to keep him in mind. Can’t keep a good man down, you see. 

Mayank went under the hammer during the auction, but the two teams he expected to take him on board - Delhi Capitals and the Chennai Super Kings - didn’t show interest with their paddles. No one did. But when his name came up in the accelerated bidding process, Lucknow Super Giants would bag him for Rs 20 lakh. 

Former India wicketkeeper and current LSG assistant coach Vijay Dahiya had had his eyes on the boy since the day his legend of pace was floating in Delhi. He convinced the management to get him. They did. 

Mayank has bowled all of 48 deliveries so far in the IPL. He had conceded 41 runs and picked up six wickets. More than that, a significant portion of those deliveries have been over 150 kmph, including one which clocked 156.7 kmph against RCB last evening. 

While that pace makes most batters squirm, Mayank’s precision and angles are what inspire actual fear. Unlike Umran Malik, who is about as fast if not faster when in the mood, Mayank rarely ever strays from the stumps.

“I think that consistency is because of me,” chuckles Prabhu. “I only spoke about fast bowlers like Dale Steyn to him to emulate. Even Morne Morkel (LSG’s bowling coach), who he works with now, is someone I used to talk to him about. Minty knows pace is important, but not if it’s everywhere.” 

“He’s a little like (Jofra) Archer that way,” adds Prabhu. 

You can see the similarity between the two: a similar tall and lean frame, simple run-up, clean loading, hyperextension of the bowling arm, and an even follow-through. 

Over and above all that, they’re both deceptive. “….I just hope he doesn’t have the same trouble with injuries as Archer,” Prabhu chuckles again, but this time, you can sense an anxiety in his tone.