Mayank Yadav's recovery set back by new toe injury

Fast bowler Mayank Yadav's recovery from a back injury has been set back by a new toe injury, but Lucknow Super Giants head coach Justin Langer is hopeful he will be available for the "back end" of IPL 2025.

Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) are going into their season opener against Delhi Capitals without four of their first-choice Indian fast bowlers - Yadav, Mohsin Khan, Avesh Khan and Akash Deep - all of whom are down with varying degrees of injuries.

"Yeah, we're very aware that four of our bowlers are unavailable for the first game and probably a couple of the guys for a few games down the track," Langer said on the eve of the game in Vizag. "But that's sport, that's cricket, fast bowling usually gives you some headaches but you just have to adapt. And we've all been in the business long enough to know that the fast-bowling injuries is something that you always have to prepare for. You never hope for it, you never wish for it but you prepare for it. So, we might have to change our game plan a little, but knowing that as the tournament goes on, we'll have some of these excellent bowlers to come back into our attack for us."

Yadav, the fast bowler from Delhi who LSG signed last year, has been plagued by injuries since he hit speeds of 150kph and won Player-of-the-Match awards in his first two IPL matches in 2024.

"Mayank, who everyone was very excited about last year, he was going quite well (coming back from a back injury), and he kicked his toe on the bed," Langer said. "He got an infection in his toe. It's put his rehab back about a week or two weeks. But he's up and running. We regularly see videos of him bowling. I saw a video of his yesterday. So, hopefully by the back end of the tournament, Mayank will be up and ready to go for us."

Like Mayank, Mohsin was another fast bowler whom LSG retained, but he's already been ruled out of the season and replaced by Shardul Thakur. Langer, however, was more hopeful of quick returns for Avesh (knee niggle) and Akash (back injury).

"Unfortunately, I think Mohsin sustained a small calf injury in his rehab. So, knowing that we had four guys out, we had to make that tough call on Mohsin. We think Avesh Khan will pass his right to play tomorrow morning through the NCA. So, if that's the case, then he'll be back sooner rather than later. Akash Deep is up and running, and bowling at about 90% now. I believe he's done his yo-yo test. So, he's really ticking off all the boxes."

LSG are playing under a new captain this season, Rishabh Pant, whom they bought for an all-time IPL record price of INR 27 crore at the mega auction in December. His first game is against his former team - DC.