Disaster Strikes as Injured Indian Bowler Makes Forgetful T20 Return

A player who played for the Indian team in the T20I format a few months back is now struggling in domestic form. Mayank Yadav, who was out of action due to an injury, made an unexpected return to the game against USA. But his impact was missing even while playing for India A.

Let's take a look at the quick rise and sudden fall of Mayank Yadav.

Mayank Yadav was a part of Lucknow Super Giants in IPL 2024 edition and played just 4 games for the team. The matches he played were far too few than the other bowlers. Still Yadav was able to impress the selectors and even the fans with his pace bowling skills. Bowling above 150 kmph helped him to trouble the batters to a great extent.

Mayank Yadav in IPL 2024:

Mayank played his debut IPL match against Punjab Kings. In this match, he was able to finish with figures of 3/27. He took the wickets of Jonny Bairstow, Jitesh Sharma, and Prabhsimran Singh. Later in his next game against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, he took his best figures of 3/14. He took the wickets of Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, and Cameron Green in his spell.

His brilliant bowling performances eventually led to Mayank Yadav getting his maiden international call up. He only played for the Indian team in the ODI series against Bangladesh. In his debut international game, he finished with figures of 1/21 in four overs. His maiden wicket came in the form of Mahmudullah.

• Innings: 3
• Maidens: 1
• Overs: 12.0
• Wickets: 4
• Average: 20.75
• Economy: 6.91
• Best Figures: 2/32

After the series against Bangladesh, Mayank Yadav has still not made it back to the Indian team. He was able to finish the series with some good figures, and the Indian team saw him as one of the finest bowling options.

Mayank Yadav was not a part of India's T20I series after the Bangladesh one, as he suffered from back injury. He did make a short comeback for Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL 2025 season. But just after playing two games for the team, his back issues came again. Eventually, he was ruled out for the remainder of the season.

Later in June 2025, Yadav had to go through a back surgery which further required a 6-8 months recovery period. During his recovery, he also spent some time at the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru. By January 2026, he had reached 90% of his bowling intensity. Fans had high hopes that the comeback of Mayank Yadav would be interesting.

However, it can be said that the comeback games of Mayank Yadav have been forgetful for him. After the Bangladesh series, he made a comeback in IPL 2025, playing just two games for Lucknow Super Giants. He played his final game against Punjab Kings, and that didn't go as he expected. Yadav conceded 60 runs in his 4 over spell, and he was also not bowling like he did earlier.

Following the surgery and recovery period, his comeback was expected to be stronger. Due to this reason, even the selectors took him in the India A team for the T20 World Cup warm-up matches. After a layoff period of almost a year, he was finally playing a competitive game against USA for India A.