‘Absorb the pressure, the ball will do the rest’ – Matthew Hayden’s advice on facing Mayank Yadav

Australia cricketer Steve Smith has given his take on how teams should counter Mayank Yadav's pace. The young pacer has taken the IPL by storm, impressing experts and fans alike with his raw pace and ability to bowl with discipline. Mayank became the first player in IPL history to bag successive Player of the Match awards in first two games in the league, with his spells proving critical in both of Lucknow Super Giants' win over Punjab Kings and Royal Challengers Bengaluru.

"I don't think he bowled a slower ball. They should be using the pace as much as he can to score behind the wicket and make him do something different. He's bowling quick and if you get some bat on it particularly in the Chinnaswamy the ball races away. So try and use his pace a little bit more instead of finding it. Teams are finding it at the moment and they are coming well short," Smith said on Star Sports' Cricket Live Show.

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Smith also spoke on Mayank Yadav's performance against RCB, stating that the youngster's ability to deliver back-to-back match-winning performances impressed him the most. Mayank was responsible for the dismissals of three key names in the RCB middle-order which ensured that the hosts always stayed behind during the chase. 

"If you look at all those balls, there wasn't one slower balls there, so you don't have to worry about that at this stage. He might have it in his armoury, we haven't seen it yet but you can probably trust to get inside the line or maybe give a bit of room and use the pace and let it come to you. The thing that impressed me is that he's played his debut game the other day obviously, they'll be a lot of hype around him and you see a lot of players have that one good game and then just can't back it up. But he's come straight back in, bowled like an absolute genius, got out Glenn Maxwell one of the best T20 batters in the world, Cameron Green, an international player who plays fast bowling really well and Patidar as well. So three quality players. So Mayank Yadav, remember the name."

Also read: IPL 2024:: Lucknow's pace sensation Mayank Yadav clocks IPL 2024's fastest ball at 156.7 kmph

Former Australia cricketer Matthew Hayden spoke on Mayank Yadav's bowling. suggesting that one of the ways to deal with such high pace is trying and avoiding to commit to any shot and instead allowing the ball to reach to the bat. 

"One of the things that happens in this competition is that all eye balls, all those great players watching him, they are working out strategies of how they are going to play him. If you bang it on length and the pace is fast, it's tough to hit. And the way you've to play someone of that pace is that you need to allow the ball to come to you. Not try to force it off the front foot or back foot. Just absorb the pressure and the ball will do the rest because the pace of the delivery."