Interesting facts about the young fast bowler Shivam Mavi

The Kolkata Knight Riders have landed some of the best fast bowlers in the world and their latest addition in the IPL 2018 Auction was the U19 Player Shivam Mavi. After managing to hog a lot of limelight with his impressive performances in the U19 World Cup, he grabbed an incredible IPL contract just like many other of his young teammates.

Kolkata Knight Riders paid a fortune to win Mitchell Starc and they also managed to bring in Shivam’s fast bowling partner Kamlesh Nagarkoti. This is another brilliant buy for them as they now have a bunch of fast bowlers who have the tendency to trouble batsmen with their extra pace, which can be very helpful on flat tracks.

It has been a wonderful day for all the fast bowlers, Jaydev Unadkat, Sandeep Sharma, and Mohit Sharma are a few good examples. Unadkat went for a mind-boggling Rs. 11.5 Crore and he will be joining the Rajasthan Royals. Now, Mavi goes a whopping Rs. 3 Crore and here are some interesting facts about the youngster.

1. Idolizes Dale Steyn

One of the greatest ever to have graced the game, Dale Steyn inspired many to become a fast bowler. One such person who took inspiration from the legend is Shivam Mavi. Mavi has idolized the great man from South Africa and he was one of the biggest inspirations for him to become a fast bowler.

2. Hails from the famous land of fast bowlers

Meerut – In cricketing terminologies, this is a land which produced some amazing fast bowlers like Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Praveen Kumar. But unlike both these players who depend on their swing, this guy is reliant on the extra pace he generates.

3. Controversially excluded from the Delhi U16 side

Mavi hailed from Meerut, but played most of his cricket for Delhi. He firstly earned a place in the Delhi U14 side but was rejected at the U16 level due to some unknown reasons. In an interview with ESPN Cricinfo, he mentioned he was very disappointed when he wasn’t picked for the U16 Delhi side. He believes there must’ve been some politics involved with that as he was bowling very well during that time.

4. Bowls very very FAST!

One thing that is very impressive about the youngster is his ability to bowl fast. As Wasim Akram once said, “Pace is something no can teach, you either have it or don’t”, this guy definitely has it in him. He manages to hit the 140 km/h on regular intervals and for a player of his age to bowl so fast, these are exciting times for Indian cricket.

5. Lost a year due to a knee injury

A knee injury ruined one complete year of his career, during which he missed the recently concluded U19 Asia Cup as well. He damaged his Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) in his left leg and was adviced to focus more on accuracy than speed. He mentioned he lost some of his pace for a while, but he returned with a bang in the U19 World Cup.

6. Impressed Lalchand Rajput at a nets session

When he was staying at Greater Noida, he once bowled at the Afghanistan Training Camp. Greater Noida is Afghanistan’s adopted home currently and he had the chance to bowl at some famous Afghan players like Mohammad Nabi and Mohammad Shahzad.

7. Integral member of the current U19 side

The current U19 Indian side is absolutely annihilating everyone coming in their way. And Shivam Mavi is playing a crucial role with the ball in every game. He and his partner Kamlesh Nagarkoti are giving a very tough time to the teenagers. During an interview with InUth, Shivam went on to quote, “Currently, I see Hardik Pandya as my competitor.”