The news of the 21-year-old Delhi man being ruled out of this IPL due to a grade 1 side strain was reported earlier on May 1, coinciding with his inclusion in the BCCI’s pace bowling contract list.
Asked about Mayank’s fitness status, Langer said, “No, we’ll be praying that he can play, hopefully, in the play-offs, but I am a realist as well. It’ll probably be difficult for him to get up for the back-end of the tournament.”
Mayank, known for his thunderbolt deliveries clocking at 155 km/h, featured in four IPL matches, claiming seven wickets.
Expand
However, in two of those games, he was unable to finish his allotted overs due to injury.
During the first instance against Gujarat Titans, Mayank suffered a side strain after bowling just one over and had to leave the field.
Following a four-week rehabilitation period, Mayank returned to play against Mumbai Indians. However, he suffered another breakdown after bowling 3.1 overs, resulting in strong criticism from Brett Lee, a former teammate of Langer.
Langer informed the media that Mayank sustained a tear in the same area where he was injured earlier.
“He’s (Mayank) had a scan. He’s got a small tear in a similar area to where his last one (injury) was. So, it’s very unfortunate. We saw the impact he had when he came back into the game,” the former Australia opener and head coach said.
Langer said even the great Jasprit Bumrah has spoken about how fast bowlers will have to cope with injuries.
“There will always be a lot of discussion about fast bowlers, and I know he spoke to [Jasprit] Bumrah after the game and he reassured him that if he’s going to be a fast bowler, part of his journey as a young fast bowler, he’s going to get injuries.
“So, in my experience, every young fast bowler, probably until they get to 25 or 26, is going to experience different injuries. It’s the most unfortunate. He’s got huge potential,” he said.
While Lee had questioned LSG’s handling of Mayank’s injury, the head coach sounded different.
“His rehabilitation was excellent. He went into the game [against MI]had a couple of bowls before the game.
“He was completely pain free. So, it’s very sad for him and it’s disappointing for LSG as well that he might not play (the rest of the tournament).”
(With PTI inputs)
