Mayank Markande's courage and control has impressed Venkatapathy Raju

Mumbai Indians talent scout like every year unearthed another talent in Mayank Markande. The leg-spinner from Punjab had played for the India U19 team but not a lot of people had their eyes on him. Mumbai signed him up and the 20-year-old impressed them in the training and practice matches leading to the tournament and thus found a place in the XI for the very first game.

He picked three wickets including that of MS Dhoni in his debut match and followed it up with a four-wicket haul against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Markande bagged another couple in the second match of the rivalry against SRH and with that earned the purple cap. He has shown a lot of courage, is a calm character and has great control in his bowling along with the variations. With that, he has managed to impress former Indian Venkatapathy Raju as well.

Impressed by Markande and Mujeeb

“Markande, the main thing is (his) first year (and the) first match and they (MI) made him play which itself shows the talent he has. You have seen a lot of youngsters come in and they sit (out) for a year, then they are put in,” Raju was quoted as saying on News18.

Another young spinner who has made a mark for himself in this season is Kings XI Punjab’s Mujeeb Ur Rahman. The 17-year-old from Afghanistan is skipper Ravichandran Ashwin’s go-to bowler and has played all the matches for the team. Raju who is commentating during the IPL on Star Maa Movies in Telugu also added, “That’s why Markande, Mujeeb (Ur Rahman of Kings XI Punjab) and all – straightaway they are making them play – that means they are special,”

He is also thrilled by the fact that Mumbai skipper Rohit Sharma considers the leg-spinner a wicket-taker and brings him into the attack whenever he is looking for wickets. “(MI captain) Rohit Sharma is using him as a strike bowler and he has been picked up (chosen) to pick wickets and he has been doing that. And that’s the talent we have and (it) is going to be a headache for the (national or state) selectors, which is fantastic headache,” Raju stated.

“This season we have seen a lot of leg spinners, wrist spinners coming in, which is a huge revelation. They will be hit once a while, but you can’t just take them away and they are coming back strongly. Wrist spinners are wicket-taking bowlers,” Raju said.

The 48-year-old who represented India in 28 Tests and 53 ODIs further classified Markande’s character and said that he has shown a lot of control for someone that young in his career and is not been bogged down by who the opponent is.

“The strongest point for him is control at that age. Showing no fear seeing who the opponent is or who the batsman is, he is just going about his bowling and that little variation. The speed and length of what he is bowling is amazing,” he stated.

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