Devender Sharma, coach of Mayank Yadav, has revealed how Laxman took a personal interest in the pacer's recovery following his arrival at the NCA.
The four Indian Premier League matches were followed up by five months on the sidelines due to the injury. Lucknow Super Giants star pacer Mayank Yadav was in no way dreaming of an India call-up soon without any match practice. However, the inevitable things took place when the BCCI named Mayank Yadav in a 15-member squad for the T20I series against Bangladesh, commencing on October 6.
The Delhi-born star, who has just played 14 T20s so far, went on to grab eyeballs when he consistently bowled mid-150 for LSG during his 2024 IPL campaign, including back-to-back Player of the Match awards, which garnered worldwide attention. It was mainly during the mid-IPL that the 22-year-old was ruled out owing to the stomach strain. Such has been the talent that he was wrapped in cotton wool with an extensive rehabilitation program and, of late, has been bowling 14-15 overs per day at NCA. Normally in India, no cricketer gets fast-tracked into the Indian side without being tested in the domestic games.
However, for LSG pace star Mayank Yadav, things took a different turn as it was noted that NCA head coach VVS Laxman took special care of the LSG young sensation. The former India cricketer was behind the scenes, and this was revealed by Mayank’s coach, Devender Sharma.
“All credit to Laxman sir. He took a special interest in Mayank, right from the day Mayank went to NCA. He was given a clear instruction by Laxman sir to first work on his core strength and then start bowling. For the past six weeks, he has been bowling 15 overs per day at the NCA, another instruction given to him by Laxman sir,” Sharma told The Indian Express.
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