'He's sore in the same spot' - Mayank walks off field after 3.1 overs under injury cloud

Lucknow Super Giants express pace bowler Mayank Yadav has had another injury scare at IPL 2024, having walked off against Mumbai Indians after the first ball of his fourth over. His captain KL Rahul said that was more of a precaution after he complained of pain in the same area he's had issues with, which had kept him out of five games before this one. He will have scans on Wednesday to rule out further issues.

"I have not really spoken to him," Rahul said at the post-match presentation. "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. He is still young and precious to us, so we need to look after him."

Mayank, 21, had earlier played three matches at this IPL before being sidelined because of abdominal soreness.

"Looks like he is sore in the same spot," LSG head coach Justin Langer said. "His rehab has been perfect, he bowled pain-free in the last week and looked in great condition. But we'll have a scan and find out tomorrow."

In his first two IPL matches, against Punjab Kings and Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Mayank had bagged the Player-of-the-Match awards with three-fors in both games when he went past 150kph regularly and surprised with his speed on the big stage, especially without much experience in domestic cricket; Mayank had played just one first-class match, 17 List A matches and 10 T20s before making his IPL debut.

At the toss on Tuesday, Rahul had said he had been keen to get Mayank back in the playing XI as quickly as possible. "He has bowled really well in the couple of games that he has played and has a huge impact for us. As a captain, I am always tempted to bring him in the team as quickly as possible," Rahul had said. "So I have been pushing the physios and the medical team to get him ready as quickly as possible. Even if he is about 95 [% fit], I keep pushing them to give him the confidence to play the game. But obviously, they know better than I do. I will make emotional decisions, and so will Mayank."

Against MI, Mayank had bowled his first three overs - while cranking up the pace - for 31 runs before he was given the 19th over. His first ball went through Mohammad Nabi to crash into the stumps but the fast bowler then went off the field, for his over to be completed by Naveen-ul-Haq. Mayank did not look in visible discomfort when he went off and was later subbed out as the Impact Player at the innings break for Arshin Kulkarni.

Mayank had started his day in dramatic fashion when he came on after the powerplay and his first delivery, at 144.1kph, struck Nehal Wadhera in the helmet. He also went past the 150kph mark later in the over but largely bowled his on-pace deliveries in the 140-147kph range and pitched most of his deliveries in the short or short-of-good-length area.