7 jaw-dropping facts about Mayank Markande

The Indian Premier League (IPL) manages to unearth the new talent every year and it has already thrilled many only after the first game of the season. Mumbai Indians handed a debut to the young leggie Mayank Markande who kept on second-guessing the star batsmen of Chennai Super Kings on the opening night of the tournament. Not many knew about him until he came into the attack and stole all the limelight with his wily spin bowling against one of the best teams in the IPL.

He returned with the magical figures of 3/23 after his four overs and his wickets were Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni and Deepak Chahar. His googlies were the most effective as he scalped all of them with a similar delivery. Though he would be looking to continue in the same vein as the teams will come out with a plan against him.

The cricketer who was not known to many is a sensation after just one night and hence we bring you some of the interesting facts of Mayank Markande:

1. Born and brought up

Mayank Markande was born on November 11 in 1997 in Bathinda which is the situated in the southern part of Punjab and one of the oldest cities in the State.

2. Began career as a pacer

Mayank started his cricketing career as a fast bowler who had mastered the art of bowling the back-of-the-hand slower ball in order to fox the batsmen. However, it was his coach who thought that could turn into an effective leg-spinner and convert his slower ball into a fine googly which eventually worked for him in his debut IPL game.

3. Impressive debut in U16 Vijay Merchant Trophy

Markande impressed one and all in the U16 Vijay Merchant Trophy during 2013/14 season by picking as many as 29 wickets in just 7 matches at an amazing average of 18.24 while playing for Punjab.

4. Success in back-to-back Cooch Behar Trophy seasons

The breakout season for the 20-year-old cricketer was his success in U19 Cooch Behar Trophy. He played only a couple of matches for his State in 2014/15 season and scalped 10 wickets which prompted the selectors to keep him in the side for 2015/16 season. He didn’t disappoint and went on pick 23 wickets in 7 outings at an average of under 27.

5. List A and T20 debut

The stellar outings at the junior level propelled him to the senior cricket team as he made his debut in the limited overs format in the recently concluded domestic season of India. He played his first List A game in Vijay Hazare Trophy against Haryana on February 7 this year and went on to play 6 matches in which he picked 10 wickets at an impressive economy of 4.67.

Prior to that, he had made his debut in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in the shortest format ahead of the auction and had scalped 8 wickets conceding only 7.10 runs per over.

6. 37 missed calls and 300 message on auction day

After a successful trial for Mumbai Indians, the franchise picked him in the mega-auction for his base price of Rs 20 Lakhs. He wasn’t aware of the same as he was featuring for Punjab in a match as the cricketer received 37 missed calls and 300 messages. He only believed the news when the manager of Mumbai Indians called him and congratulated on being picked for the franchise.

7. Dream IPL debut

Mayank Markande returned with the best bowling figures of 3/23 for Mumbai Indians on debut as a spinner in the first game of the season in 2018. This was also the second best performance overall as a debutant of MI after Lasith Malinga who had registered the figures of 3/15.

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