New Delhi [India], March 23 (ANI): Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 will mark the return of Lucknow Super Giants' tearaway pace sensation Mayank Yadav, who made the world sit up and take notice two seasons ago.

Yadav spoke on his love for fast bowling, which began in childhood, inspired by watching matches featuring South African veteran seamers Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn, and encouraged by his father, who showed him videos of great pacers. 'When I used to play in the streets, I didn't know how to bowl spin. So I used to bowl only fast bowling. My craze for fast bowling began in childhood. My father also used to show me a lot of fast bowling videos. Mostly, when India used to play in South Africa, I used to watch a lot of those matches. I really liked two of their pacers, our current bowling coach, Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn. Through them, I got the craze to bowl fast,' Yadav said on JioStar.

Yadav revealed that his pace wasn't always evident and that fast bowling is physically and mentally demanding. He discovered his talent during his first IPL stint when trainers measured his speed with a speed gun, making him realise his natural gift. 'I will not say that the high speed in my bowling was always there. Now, a lot of people say that Mayank Yadav is a wonder kid with natural talent. It feels nice. But I was not a wonder kid from the very start. With fast bowling, things are always a little dicey, whether you can do it or not. This part of the game is a very thin line. There is a lot of stress on the body, both physically and mentally. When I came to the IPL for the first time, our trainers used to measure our bowling speed with a speed gun. At that time, I came to know that I have this talent, I have this gift. So now I have to respect it,' he added.

The Rishabh Pant-led LSG will begin their IPL 2026 season campaign against the Delhi Capitals on April 1, followed by their matches against the Sunrisers Hyderabad on April 5, the Kolkata Knight Riders on April 9 and the Gujarat Titans on April 12 in the first phase, which was announced by the BCCI.

Lucknow Super Giants squad for IPL 2026: Rishabh Pant(captain), Aiden Markram, Himmat Singh, Matthew Breetzke, Mukul Choudhary, Akshat Raghuwanshi, Josh Inglis, Nicholas Pooran, Mitchell Marsh, Abdul Samad, Shahbaz Ahamad, Arshin Kulkarni, Wanindu Hasaranga, Ayush Badoni, Mohammad Shami, Avesh Khan, M. Siddharth, Digvesh Singh, Akash Singh, Prince Yadav, Arjun Tendulkar, Anrich Nortje, Naman Tiwari, Mayank Yadav, Mohsin Khan. (ANI)