Come Wednesday, Lucknow Super Giants kick off their IPL season under home lights. Pacers Mayank Yadav and Naman Tiwari cleared fitness checks just before facing Delhi Capitals. Justin Langer, the team’s head coach, called them promising without overhyping. Ekana Stadium hosts the first match of LSG’s 2026 journey. India’s pace battery in this squad runs deep – led by Mohammed Shami. Names like Avesh Khan, Akash Singh, Prince Yadav, and Arjun Tendulkar add depth. Young guns such as Mayank and Naman bring fresh energy into the mix. When asked about recovery status, Langer simply confirmed both were ready to go. Excitement follows each of them closely. One step ahead, always, is where you’ll find their path leading
Speed lit up the field when Mayank charged in during IPL 2024, quickly becoming LSG’s standout fast bowler. His accuracy – hitting spots again and again – caught attention just as much as those thunderous balls nearing 150 km/h. Though flashes of brilliance shine through, setbacks from injuries have sliced across his journey now and then. Even with promise burning bright, time away from play has marked both his domestic and national appearances.
So far, he’s appeared in six IPL contests for LSG across two seasons, claiming nine wickets at a cost of just over twenty runs each, peaking with figures of 3 for 14. In contrast, his Indian T20I journey includes four scalps from three fixtures – average hovering near 20.75 – with a top performance reading 2 for 32. Only twice did he step onto the field in the 2025 IPL season; then, another setback struck, cutting short his campaign entirely. Later on came a comeback trail through India A assignments, fine-tuning rhythm during preparatory outings before this year’s T20 World Cup.
That tournament saw Naman stand out as one of the leading bowlers when India reached the final of the 2024 ICC U19 WC. Twelve dismissals came across six games, his runs per wicket just under twenty, including a pair of four-for performances. His most recent appearances happened in the UPT20 League that same year – six matches, four scalps. So far, no official appearance has come at the senior professional level.
Langer spoke of his team’s fast bowling talent, saying, “The beautiful thing that we have got for this tournament, which we have not had in the past, is we have not only those two young bowlers, but we also have Mohsin Khan, we have Avesh Khan, we have got Mohammed Shami, we have got Akash Singh, we have got Anrich Nortje from South Africa, who else have I missed, we have got Arjun Tendulkar, we have got all these guys who are fit. So we have to work out tomorrow which players are going to fit the puzzle to play on this red soil wicket.”
