India bowling coach Morne Morkel praised young pacer Mayank Yadav for making an impressive comeback to the Indian team after facing major injury setbacks. He added that he is looking forward to seeing how the right-arm fast bowler performs in the T20I series against the West Indies if he gets a chance.
After being out of the Indian team for nearly two years due to multiple injury issues, Mayank made a strong comeback during the T20I series in Zimbabwe in July. He registered figures of 2-18 in the first T20I and 3-29 in the third.
Speaking at a press conference ahead of the India vs West Indies T20I series, which begins in Lucknow on Tuesday, October 6, Morkel shared his thoughts on Mayank and commented:
“Mayank Yadav is back from injury, so I look forward to seeing how he goes when he gets an opportunity. If you look at Mayank Yadav, [what] immediately comes to mind is his pace, his X-factor. He had a couple of setbacks with injuries back-to-back. For a young player to get through that and then again find himself in a situation to play for India just shows attitude.”
Mayank has featured in six T20Is so far and has claimed nine wickets at an average of 17.22 and an economy rate of 6.73. In the IPL, he has played 10 matches for Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and has claimed nine wickets at an average of 40.77 and an economy rate of 10.14.
“He is a deep thinker about the game” – Morkel on Abhishek Sharma
During the press conference, Morkel also praised opener Abhishek Sharma and termed him as a deep thinker of the game. The former South African bowler explained that there is more to the southpaw’s batting than just smashing the bowling out of the park. Morkel elaborated:
“What I like about Abhishek is that he is a deep thinker about the game. At training, he comes with a specific plan in terms of how he thinks the bowlers are going to try and get him out.”
“It is not just going into the nets, hitting every ball for six, and walking out. He thinks about his game quite a lot, comes with a well-structured plan to the nets, and that is the reason why he is so successful,” he concluded.
Abhishek has featured in 62 T20Is so far and has scored 1,926 runs at an average of 32.64 and a strike rate of 195.13, with three hundreds and 13 half-centuries.
Edited by Renin Wilben Albert