There are always different versions to look into Mayank Yadav’s bowling. One is an old video from the 2023-24 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, with his potential burning bright. Gliding to the crease with those fluid strides, the delayed bowling arm, the hips and trunk driving forward on front foot contact — almost everything seemed to be in sync in order to bowl rockets.
The same version could be observed during the 2024 IPL. Who can forget that jaw-dropping delivery to Cameron Green that slanted in a touch and then left the bewildered batter to whoosh through his defence? His bowling in that IPL wasn’t just about scorching pace and extra bounce, but also late movement off the deck. On occasions, it continued to come in with the angle, and that was juxtaposed with a few leaving the right-hand batter or straightening.
Unfortunately, we have to also imagine those fast-bowling versions hampered by a hamstring injury, a side strain, and more importantly a debilitating back injury. Subsequently, after Mayank suffered the aforesaid injury last year, Dr. Rowan Schouten of New Zealand performed his back surgery.
Although Mayank bounced back from that injury and played in the 2026 IPL, he looked short of rhythm. On the brighter side, he was able to touch 149 kph. In that sense, it was heartening to notice Mayank not just summoning quick spells and extracting bounce, but also moving the ball off the seam in the opening T20I against Zimbabwe.
So, how did Mayank convalesce from the back injury? While undergoing the rehab, how did Mayank chisel out ways to keep himself motivated? In an exclusive chat, Devendra Sharma, Mayank’s childhood coach, has this to say about the speedster’s recovery process… “After surgery, there were problems. Some said, ‘you can’t make a comeback, you can’t bowl fast’. Those four-five months were tough for him, to motivate himself.
“It isn’t easy to motivate the mind that I have to make a comeback. He lives in Delhi, you don’t have the kind of modern machines (technology) there compared to what you get at the Centre of Excellence (CoE). Physios, everyone helped him at the CoE. LSG also kept him in the team, he went to Bengaluru as LSG assessed his fitness.”
Devendra opened up on how Mayank slowly and steadily increased his workload. “He is now totally fit. It also comes down to practice. Your rhythm, action, follow-through, everything has to come out well,” he said. “After the surgery, you can’t bowl that fast, as you wouldn’t have the rhythm. He practiced daily, worked on his muscles; strength exercises… Then he started to bowl, he would bowl 10-15 overs at the CoE. The physios at the CoE worked hard on him. I also motivated him, as he had to play for the country again.
“It used to be two to two-and-a-half hours of training sessions, during the morning and evening surrounding his rehab: back exercises, then leg exercises because of the kind of pressure it takes. It took time to get his rhythm right.”
Devendra also had a few conversations with his ward after Mayank went wicketless in the IPL. One of the salient features of his discussions was about having the required fast-bowling mindset. And that would translate to visualising the batter’s dismissal, mixing up your lengths, possessing different gears and more. “In his first IPL game, he bowled a lot of short-pitch stuff. I had a conversation with him that ‘you need to bowl according to the footwork of a batsman’, bowl around off and middle-stump’,” he said.
Since the fast bowler has made a comeback, there is also a belief that Mayank has tinkered with his biomechanics. His coach, however, clarified that he hasn’t made any changes to his action. Devendra continued by saying that the biggest change has been improved fitness. “No change, same action, same result,” he noted. “The only change is his fitness. Fitness is the main concern, and you can see the result of the hard work in front of you.
“If he keeps himself fit, then he can play one-day and Test cricket. As soon as he comes over to Delhi, he only talks about fitness. To become a good fast bowler, you need that kind of fitness. So much cricket is being played over 365 days.”
There is still a small caveat to be added: in the second Zimbabwe-India T20I, Mayank wasn’t bowling at his top speeds. He also wasn’t finding nifty lateral movement that you generally associate with this explosive fast bowler.
Injuries and comebacks are a microcosm of a fast bowler’s journey. Somewhere Mayank has to don the hat of a monk to persevere through the pain and agony of injuries. Fast bowling is a tough profession indeed.
The post There is no change in Mayank’s action, the only change is fitness: Devendra Sharma, Mayank’s childhood coach appeared first on Sports News Portal | Revsportz.
