Mayank Yadav, LSG's star fast bowler, ruled out for first half of IPL 2025 due to back injury

Mayank Yadav, the fast bowler for Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), will unfortunately be missing the first half of IPL 2025. According to sources at ESPNcricinfo, Mayank is currently recovering from a lumbar stress injury and has recently started bowling again at the BCCI's Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru. He has been undergoing rehabilitation at the center since being injured after his debut for India during the T20I series against Bangladesh last October.

There is no firm date set by the BCCI for Mayank's return yet, but if he meets all the fitness parameters alongside increasing his bowling workload, he could feature in the latter half of the IPL.

Mayank's unavailability in the first half of the tournament is a setback for LSG, who had retained him for INR 11 crore ($1.31 million approx.) ahead of the mega auction. It was an astronomical leap monetarily for Mayank who had been bought for INR 20 lakh ahead of the 2024 season as an uncapped fast bowler.

Mayank commanded such a huge salary primarily because of his ability to bowl at breakneck speeds, crossing 150kph-plus consistently, which earned him back-to-back Player-of-the-Match awards in his first two matches in the IPL. Encouraged by his potential talent, the national selectors added Mayank to the pool of quicks given fast-bowling contracts.

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Mayank's time in IPL 2024 was limited to just four matches due to a lingering side strain in the last two matches he played. During rehab, Mayank picked a separate injury which delayed his comeback but he eventually played the Bangladesh T20Is. However, he picked up another injury immediately after which forced him to return to rehab. While the BCCI has not officially shared details on Mayank's injury, it is understood that Mayank has a stress-related injury in his lower back on the left-hand side.

In February, former India fast bowler Zaheer Khan, who has taken over as LSG's team director, said that the franchise was working closely with the BCCI's medical team to chart a

LSG are set to play their first match of the season against Delhi Capitals on March 24 in Visakhapatnam, under new captain Rishabh Pant.