The ex-cricketer of Pakistan Basit Ali praised and hoped that Mayank Yadav, this young Indian pacer, makes his international debut and travels to Australia for the five-Test match Border-Gavaskar Series that commences on November 22 in Perth. A new-look India boosted by the arrival of new players Mayank Yadav and Nitish Kumara Reddy avenged their previous loss to Bangladesh by winning the first of the three T20Is at Gwalior on Sunday by a margin of seven wickets, thanks to the efforts of Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakravarthy and Hardik Pandya.
Mayank’s name first came in the news during this year’s Indian Premier League (IPL), when he managed to get seven wickets in four matches for an injury-ridden season with the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). A consistency of speed between 140-150 kmph during that period (of play) helped him grab the big scalps of Jonny Bairstow and Glenn Maxwell, who are credited among many others. Here, the bowler managed to build a fair amount of hype around himself with the audience eagerly looking forward to his spells whenever he would come back from his injury.
Finally, the twenty-two-year-old made his long-awaited debut in Indian colors at Gwalior. He completed his bowling in four overs with 21 runs and one wicket taken, with an economy of 5.20. Mayank did set the speed guns on fire with some of his deliveries. In his full four-over spell, Mayank did not hit 150 kpm mark, but hit the 140 kph mark consistently in 17 out of 24 balls he bowled. As stated by Wisden his average was affected by a few slower deliveries resulting in a speed of 138.7 kph.
Speaking on his Youtube Channel, Basit said, “What a dream debut this has been for Mayank Yadav. He began with a maiden over and went on to clock of 149.9 kmph. He has come from an injury, hence the speed have not been 157 or 158. Just imagine if instead of Hardik Pandya the new ball was handed to him. He was intimidating. If any of you watched the match, batters did not attempt to play him on the front foot. I just wish he stays healthy and makes it to Australia.”
Coming to the match, India won the toss and chose to bowl first. Under the leadership of Najmul Hossain Shanto (27 runs off 25 balls, 1 four, and 1 six) and Mehidy Hasan Miraz (35* runs off 32 balls, 3 fous), Bangladesh scored a few runs, but the rest of the innings was a struggle. Bangladesh was dismissed for a total of 127 in 19.5 overs.
In the Indian bowling department Arshdeep Singh(3/14) was the most successful bowler. Varun Chakravarthy after a long injury layoff returned to the side to take three wickets conceding 31 runs. Pace sensation Mayank Yadav, Washington Sundar and Hardik also picked up one wicket each.
During the chase of 128 runs, Abhishek Sharma (16 off seven balls) was run out due to miscommunication. However, Sanju Samson 29 off 19 balls with six fours) and captain Suryakumar Yadav (29 off 14 balls, two fours and three sixes) put up a second-wicket partnership of 40 runs. Then it was Hardik who finished things off for India as he added 52 runs for the fourth wicket with debutant Nitish Kumar Reddy who scored 16 runs in 15 balls with a six.
Bangladesh could not raise their game with the ball in the latter half and only managed to take two wickets. Mustafizur Rahman and Mehidy were the only ones to take a wicket for the team.
For his terrific bowling performance that also included the important scalping of Litton Das, Arshdeep was awarded the ‘Player of the Match’ award. India lead the three match series 1-0.
