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Mayank Yadav returned from a back injury as the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) pacer played his first IPL match in almost a year in their match against Rajasthan Royals (RR) on Wednesday.
Lucknow Super Giants' Indian cricket player Mayank Yadav bowls during the 2026 Indian Premier League (IPL) T20 match between Lucknow Super Giants and Rajasthan Royals at the Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on 22 April 2026. (Photo by Arun Sankar / AFP)(AFP)Former West Indies pacer Ian Bishop has slammed the "horrifying" criticism of Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) pacer Mayank Yadav.
Mayank Yadav played his first IPL match after almost a year on Wednesday during LSG's match against Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Jaipur.
He had missed a majority of IPL 2025 due to a back injury. In his comeback game against RR, the pacer, however, endured figures of 0/56 from four overs. He ended up conceding 20 runs from the final over of the RR innings.
Ian Bishop defends Mayank Yadav
"To see negative comments about Mayank Yadav today is horrifying. The kid nearly lost his career & livelihood at 21yrs. Just to see him play again is huge boost. The fact that he clocked 150kph again is a miracle. At 23yrs just pray for him that he stays fit. The control will come," Ian Bishop, cricketer-turned-commentator, wrote on "X".
Rajasthan Royals were 139/6 after 19 overs, and Mayank bowled the final over of the RR innings. He began the over with a slower ball, and Ravindra Jadeja hit a boundary by slamming it through midwicket.
He then followed it up with a brace to retain strike, and collected another boundary in the next delivery.
The former CSK player continued taking the doubles in the next couple of deliveries, before slamming a six over deep backward square leg to finish RR's innings with a total of 159/6.
Lucknow Super Giants eventually lost by 40 runs after they were bundled out for just 119 in 18 overs.
One fan, however, urged Ian Bishop to "stop exaggerating" concerns on Mayank's injury. “Stop exaggerating concerns raised around Mayank Yadav's persistent injuries.
"The guy has already made a million dollars while being injured. He also pursued a career in commentary like recently retired IPL players are doing. No need to get emotional over well-meaning criticism,” he replied to Bishop's post.
Before the match against RR on Wednesday, Mayank last played an IPL match on 4 May 2025 against Punjab Kings. In that match, he endured figures of 0/60 from four overs.
Since making his IPL debut in 2024, Mayank has played seven matches and has taken nine wickets at an economy rate of 9.97.
The defeat to RR leaves LSG reeling at ninth place in the 10-team IPL standings, with just four points from seven matches. The Rishabh Pant-led side will next face Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in Lucknow on Sunday (26 April).
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