‘Death bowling was one area I needed to work on,’ says Mayank Yadav

Delhi bowler Mayank Yadav took five wickets against J&K during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Cricket Tournament at the MPCA Stadium in Indore on November 14, 2026. | Photo Credit: R.V. Moorthy There is a new pair of shoes in Mayank Yadav’s cricket kit. They are not conventional cricket spikes. They are running joggers, modified with spikes, and the tearaway quick believes they are helping him find a little more spring in his approach to the crease.Also read | Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy: Sooryavanshi in focus; Tamil Nadu, Delhi have the tools to succeed“They are very light, and the bounce is better in the run-up. So, that is helping me a lot,” said the 24-year-old after his return to domestic cricket for Delhi yielded five for 14 in a three-over spell against Jammu & Kashmir in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) at the Holkar Stadium on Saturday (November 14, 2026).The experiment is typical of a bowler who has been finding ways to add to his game. During his rehabilitation at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence (CoE), following back surgery, he also worked on getting the ball to swing at high speed.“I knew that in international cricket, you need to swing the ball a little because T20 cricket, especially, is very batting-friendly. So, you have to add some extra skills. You have to keep adding more and more skills to your game,” he said.Furthermore, he worked on his death-bowling with Ishant Sharma before the tournament.“I worked on yorkers and slower balls. Ishant bhaiya helped me a lot. That [death-bowling] was one area I really wanted to work more on,” he said.Having played at the venue in the T20I against West Indies in October, he knew the ball would “skid off the black-soil surface.”“I have that pace, so I just tried to keep attacking the wickets and hit the hard length,” he said.He sent Shubham Khajuria’s off-stump cartwheeling like a spinning firework and later dismissed Brijesh Sharma with a searing yorker.Mayank said express-pace bowlers had to pay particular attention to recovery, given the intensity of their craft.“The intensity is something you cannot compare with that of other bowlers. There are very few bowlers who operate at that pace, and it is a difficult challenge for those working with them to understand their requirements. So, you have to work more and focus more on your recovery and off-field routines. You have to respect your body,” he said. Published - November 15, 2026 03:55 pm IST