Hard work always pays: Mayank Markande

Things went from good to better for Mayank Markande on Friday. The day began on a good note for the youngster as he starred for India A in the unofficial Test against England Lions. The Mumbai Indians mystery spinner picked up a five-for in the second innings. He finished with figures of 5/31 as England Lions were skittled out for 180 in their second innings.  As a result, India A won the game by an innings-and-68-run win.

India A had totally dominated the game. Batting first, the home side posted 392 after their top order shone with Easwaran getting 117 while KL Rahul and Priyank Panchal scored a half-century. In reply, England Lions fared poorly in both the innings. The visitors were all out for just 144 in the first essay before being asked to follow-on. But the batsmen learned little from their mistake and once again failed to get going.

Barring Ben Duckett’s half-century at the top of the order and Lewis Gregory’s 49- ball 44, there were no noteworthy performances with the bat from the tourists. Markande, who had gone wicketless in the first innings, was the architect of England’s downfall.  The right-arm spinner picked his third first-class fifer – accounting for the wickets of Ollie Pope, Steven Mullaney, Dominic Bess, Gregory and Zak Chappell

Delighted with his performance, he said that the last one year has been a memorable one for him. “Hard work always pays,” Markande was quoted as saying in Sportstar. “It has been a great journey for me. I never really thought the past year would turn things around for me. I learnt something from Shabhaz (Nadeem) and Jalaj (Saxena) bhai in this match,” he added.

“Rahul Dravid sir has also played a big role. He is a legend and a huge motivator in my stint with the emerging team. He does not allow anybody to think negative and it has helped me a great deal,’ he added.

Maiden India call-up:

As the day progressed, Markande had another great reason to cheer about. The leg-spinner earned his maiden India call-up for the forthcoming T20I series against Australia. Markande has not looked back since making his IPL debut last year where he impressed for Mumbai Indians, finishing the season with 15 wickets.

[interaction id=”5c63ed0b1179bbc55d181805″]

Get the latest Cricket News and updates, Match Predictions, Fantasy Cricket Tips and lots more on CricTracker.com.