LSG appeared desperate to bring Mayank Yadav back, but he’s still not ready: Ambati Rayudu

The Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) administration, according to former India cricketer Ambati Rayudu, was keen to get Mayank Yadav back into the mix after he recovered from back and toe problems. After recovering at the Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru, the latter played his maiden Indian Premier League 2025 (IPL 2025) game on April 27 against the Mumbai Indians.

He had a poor performance against Punjab Kings in LSG’s most recent match on Sunday, May 4, despite playing well against the five-time champions, taking two wickets at a cost of 40 runs. In addition to giving up 60 runs, the right-arm speedster did not take any wickets.

Mayank Yadav has also been bowling far more slowly than he did prior to the injury ever since he returned.

Ambati Rayudu used Jofra Archer as an example to support his views on Yadav’s return, emphasising that the England seamer needed six months to fully heal from his injuries.

“I believe it is more a loss of confidence than speed because it is really difficult to fully recover from an injury and return to your peak performance. It took Archer six months to return to his peak performance, but we have seen him. Rayudu stated on ESPNcricinfo, “It will be difficult if we say that he (Mayank) is not performing, but LSG might have just shown some desperation to just get him into the mix, maybe he is not ready yet.”

On Sunday at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamsala, LSG chose to bowl first and let up an incredible 236 runs. Punjab’s best scorer, Prabhsimran Singh, hammered 91 off of 48 balls. LSG was limited to 199/7 in response. The best bowler was Arshdeep Singh, who finished with stats of 3/16.

This defeat severely damaged LSG’s chances of making it to the playoffs. They are now ranked seventh in the standings with five victories from their last eleven games. On Friday, May 9, Rishabh Pant and company will play again at the Ekana Cricket Stadium against Royal Challengers Bengaluru.