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The Australian Test great, Steve Smith, was left quite impressed by the express pace of Mayank Yadav in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024, wanting him to play in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy down under later this year. The 34-year-old, who missed out on an IPL playing gig, is commentating on the tournament with the host broadcaster Star Sports.
Mayank Yadav, 21, the right-arm fast bowler, has lit up the IPL 2024 with his pace and accuracy while playing for the Lucknow Super Giants. He has picked up six wickets, three each against Punjab Kings and Royal Challengers Bengaluru, to take his team to back-to-back victories, while taking home a couple of Player of the Match awards too.
Steve Smith praised the performance of Mayank Yadav in Bengaluru against RCB on Star Sports, and said, “Mayank’s progress is great. He is pitching the ball on the right spots. Mayank is mixing his deliveries and ok he has the pace and talent to become one of the best fast bowlers. He is hitting right spots. It’s not an easy task to take on deliveries that clock 155 kph.”
Following this, the former Australian captain turned his attention to the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which is scheduled to happen later this year in Australia. He remarked, “Mayank Yadav should play the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia (later this year). I'm looking forward to facing him.”
Notably, the five-match Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 will begin with the first Australia versus India Test match at the Optus Stadium in Perth on November 22. India have won the last four BGTs with a margin of 2-1 against Australia, each of these series had four Test matches.
