Who is Prerak Mankad? - All you need to know about the LSG star

The 58th game of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 featured a clash between the 2016 season champions Sunrisers Hyderabad and the KL Rahul-led Lucknow Super Giants. From Heinrich Klassen’s knock to Nicholas Pooran’s blitzkrieg, there were several performances that stood out in the game. However, the performance of 29-year-old Prerak Mankad made quite a few heads turn.

Mankad made his IPL debut in 2022 for Punjab Kings but failed to make an impact in his first season. Representing Saurashtra in the domestic circuit, he made his T20 debut in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy back in 2016. His all-round consistent performances with both the bat and ball saw him become a regular in the starting lineup for Saurashtra in all three formats. 

He was roped in by Lucknow Super Giants at the IPL 2023 auction for the base price of INR 20 lakh. Hailing from Rajkot, Gujarat, Mankad has quite a knack for taking wickets and muscling the balls out of the ground. Furthermore, the 29-year-old’s records speak for themselves. In 46 first-class matches, Mankad has amassed 2006 runs and taken 43 wickets. In List-A cricket, he has 1535 runs and 38 wickets while 941 runs and 22 wickets in 44 T20 games.

Through brilliant knocks of Heinrich Klassen, Anmolpreet Singh and Abdul Samad, Sunrisers Hyderabad posted 182 runs on the board in the first innings. After continued poor showings by Deepak Hooda, Lucknow Super Giants decided to give the chance to Mankad and included him in the squad. This was the second game that the 29-year-old played in at the IPL 2023. 

Coming in to bat after the fall of the first wicket, Mankad was sensational for Lucknow during the run chase. Mankad played an unbeaten knock of 64 off 45, and his knock was crucial in Lucknow winning the game by seven wickets.