Who is Mayank Yadav - the fastest bowler of IPL 2024?

The Indian Premier League witnessed the rise of a new pace sensation as the unheralded Mayank Yadav bowled one of the fastest spells in the history of the tournament while helping Lucknow Super Giants defeat a stunned Punjab Kings.

Very few had expected Yadav to emerge as the fastest bowler of the competition, and just the second Indian to breach the 155kph mark. After being on the sidelines for the past two seasons, Yadav finally got his chance this time and set the stage alight on debut.

Coming in as the last bowling change as Punjab approached the 100-run mark at the halfway stage without loss, chasing 200, Yadav rattled the well-set Shikhar Dhawan and Jonny Bairstow with hard lengths and extreme pace, beating the batsmen regularly with 150kph deliveries.

Yadav well and truly announced his arrival at the big stage as he beat Dhawan with a delivery clocked at 155.8kph (97mph). A couple of deliveries later, he hurried Bairstow with a quick short ball and the Englishman was caught on the on side.

Dhawan and next set of batsmen – Prabhsimran Singh and Jitesh Sharma – could barely put bat to ball as Yadav did not bowl a single ball below the 140kph mark. His top speed was also the sixth fastest ever recorded in IPL.

He took three wickets in all – Bairstow, Prabhsimran and Jitesh – and all were caught off the short ball. The spectacular spell of 3-27 did its job as Lucknow closed out a fine 21-run win. The previously unknown Yadav thus became an overnight star.