Lucknow Super Giants head coach Justin Langer has confirmed that their speedster Mayank Yadav is unlikely to feature in the rest of the 2024 Indian Premier League.

Yadav, who got the cricket world talking after sending down a 155kmph delivery in his maiden IPL game, subsequently sending down a ball that read 156kmph on the speedometer, was sidelined after playing just three games due to an abdominal soreness. Initially discussed as a potential candidate to make India’s team for the T20 World Cup after bagging the Player of the Match awards in his first two games, Yadav missed five matches due to injury before returning for Lucknow’s game against Mumbai Indians.

“We’ll be praying he can play”

However, he walked off the field after bowling just 3.1 overs, with skipper KL Rahul revealing it was a precautionary measure. “He was out in the last game because of a slight pain in his side, not a side strain, but slight pain there. After the first ball [of his fourth over], he said the same thing, ‘thoda dukh raha hai [it’s hurting a bit]’. So I said might as well go out and not risk the next five balls.”

Langer has now confirmed that Mayank is all but out of the league, although the Australian remains hopeful he could feature in the playoffs if the team makes it through.

Speaking ahead of LSG’s clash with Kolkata Knight Riders on Sunday (May 5), Langer said: “No, we’ll be praying that he can play, hopefully, in the playoffs, but I’m a realist as well. It’ll be probably difficult for him to get up for the back-end of the tournament.”

He continued: “He’s had a scan. He’s got a small tear in a similar area to where his last one was. So it’s very unfortunate. We saw the impact he had when he came back into the game. But we can all sleep. There will always be a lot of discussion about fast bowlers, and I know he spoke to Bumrah after the game and he reassured him that if he’s going be a fast bowler, part of his journey as a young fast bowler, he’s going to get injuries. So in my experience, every young fast bowler, probably until they get to 25 or 26, is going to experience different injuries. And it’s the most unfortunate.

“He’s got huge potential. But his rehabilitation was excellent. He went into the game [against MI], had a couple of bowls before the game. He was completely pain free. So it’s very sad for him and it’s disappointing for LSG as well [that he might not play the rest of the tournament].”

Chahar might also miss remainder of IPL

Yadav is not the only Indian pacer struggling with injuries. Chennai Super King’s Deepak Chahar may also have played his last game of the season after he bowled just two balls against Punjab Kings earlier this week before pulling up. The injury-prone Chahar had also missed the first two games of the season due to a niggle.

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