'Phenta maar diya' - Justin Langer playfully ribs Shoaib Akhtar following Mayank Yadav's record as IPL 2024's quickest bowler
The 21-year-old Delhi-born pace-bowling sensation has grabbed everybody's eyeballs with two back-to-back Player of the Match performances in his debut IPL season.
Mayank Yadav has been nothing short of a revelation for the Lucknow Super Giants, with him securing two Player of the Match awards for his truly spectacular performances against the Punjab Kings and the Royal Challengers Bengaluru, courtesy of his raw pace and menacing lines. Ever since the youngster came to the fore, he has impressed one-and-all through the way he comes steaming into bowl every single ball, consistently hitting speeds of over 145 kph with quite some ease.
In his very first game of the season, he bowled the fastest delivery of IPL 2024, with him clicking 155.8 kph against PBKS at the Ekana International Cricket Stadium in Lucknow. Stupendously enough, he bettered his own record, registering a delivery at a blistering 156.7 kph against RCB at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
With former Australian Justin Langer tasting considerable success as a coach in T20 cricket, he was incorporated as LSG's head coach ahead of the seventeenth edition of the marquee league to replace Zimbabwean Andy Flower, after his contract was not renewed by LSG. Following "the child of the wind" Mayank Yadav's ascension as India's new pace sensation in IPL 2024, Langer conveyed a funny message for legendary Pakistani fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar, who was nicknamed the Rawalpindi Express back in the day, with him bowling the fastest ball in the history of international cricket at a rapid 161.3 kph to English southpaw Nick Knight - a record which stands tall and handsome till this date.
In a video posted by the official handle of LSG on X, Langer was seen with his arms over viral content creator, Shubham Gaur, who came into the limelight for his consummately accurate mimicry of Akhtar's commentary. Initiating the video, Gaur was seen donning the LSG jersey and was heard introducing Langer, and the fact that he had a memo for his "good friend" (Akhtar), with Langer hilariously addressing Akhtar saying "Mayank ne phenta maaar diya", which means that Mayank's pacey bowling blew away the opposition.
Further, Gaur asked Langer whom he thought was quicker - Akhtar or Mayank. Langer promptly responded (while indirectly conversing with Akhtar), that he felt Mayank was a bit quicker than the 48-year-old Pakistani express bowler, with him reiterating Akhtar's commonly-used phrase, post which Gaur cracked up into uncontrollable laughter.
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