Mayank joins exclusive club with special maiden over on T20I debut

All eyes were on Mayank Yadav when he received his maiden India cap in the first T20I against Bangladesh in Gwalior. Thanks to the hype he created around him in the 2024 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) with his pace, Mayank was fast-tracked to the national team despite not playing any cricket since an injury halted his maiden IPL season to only four games to his kitty. 

Mayank began his IPL career (for Lucknow Super Giants) with back-to-back Player of the Match awards. He has now begun his India career with a record. 

The speedster, brought on to bowl in the sixth over, kicked off his T20I career with a maiden. He is only the fifth Indian bowler to bowl a maiden over on his T20I debut. Furthermore, he is the third in the list to start his spell with a maiden. 

Interestingly, the first name on the list is Ajit Agarkar, the current chief selector of the Indian team. In India’s first-ever T20I in 2006, Agarkar was also brought on to bowl in the sixth over of South Africa’s innings and started with a maiden. 18 years later, he picked Mayank to play for India and the Delhi-born has replicated the feat to perfection. 

Arshdeep Singh, who is also part of the current team, started his T20I career with a maiden gainst England in 2022. 

Mayank also picked a wicket in his second over. Mahmudullah became his first international wicket trying to hit him out of the park in the off-side but managing to hand a straightforward catch to the deep point fielder. The 22-year-old finished with figures of 1/21 in his four overs. 

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