INTERVIEW
Follow UsAlmost 1,000 km away from Gwalior, here in Surat, Parvinder Awana couldn’t stop smiling while talking about his pupil, whom he saw at quite a young age.
All he saw at the nets was someone who wanted to have the ball at all points of the game with one aim: bowl fast. Awana has shared a dressing room and has been roommates with Ishant Sharma multiple times, but he hasn’t quite witnessed someone bowl as fast as the kid in front of him.
The kid in the story is none other than Lucknow Super Giants’ breakthrough star, Mayank Yadav. Being a pacer in India has now become quite a common commodity, but someone who can consistently break that 150 kmph barrier is still viewed with awe.
In just half of the Indian Premier League (IPL) season, Mayank convinced the whole of India that he is the next fast-bowling superstar. But four matches and seven wickets later, injuries put a break to his career.
The art of pace bowling is a double-edged sword. While you do enjoy the raw pace that comes with it, you also have to understand that when an injury occurs, it puts you on a backfoot. Over the last few months, though, that’s precisely where Mayank has worked hard on and has received the nod of approval from his coach, Awana.
“I met him one and half months back at NCA [National Cricket Academy], he told me’s fit. He’s working on his bowling load, improving it. Mene bachpan se usko dekha hai, voh zor se ball daalne ko dekhta hai [I have seen him bowl from a young age, he always tries to bowl really fast]. As he is growing up, he’s learning about his body, and is working on it. He’s working on his conditioning as well,” Awana told Cricket.com on the sidelines of Legends League Cricket.
Awana, who trained Mayank during his time with the Delhi Colts setup, laid out the areas where the 22-year-old needs to work to improve his game.
“Any bowler who bowls fast is prone to getting injured. But to get out of the injury, you have to work on your diet and sleeping patterns. If you look at it from a way, he has to take care of himself from a pace-bowler perspective,” he added.
It was interesting to note the observations made during the conversation with Awana about the art of pace bowling. While Awana himself, at the highest level, was never a tearaway pacer, he definitely knows what it takes to be one.
“Fast bowling is very difficult. The team has XI people; 10 of them are on one side, and the pacer is on the other side,” he said.
One particular aspect that stood out during the conversation was Awana tallying the hard work of the other 10 players to the efforts and hard work of one tearaway pacer. The amount of effort that goes into maintaining the speed is quite commendable, and Awana had no qualms about his ward doing well in the coming days.
“That 10 people’s mehnat [hardwork] and that one person’s is separate. He will make a good comeback, he’s mentally very strong. Voh accha karega [he will do well],” he concluded.
Now that Mayank is in the Indian squad for the upcoming three-match T20I series against Bangladesh, he hopes to look after his form and fitness much more meticulously than before as Awana continues to fully back his ward.
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