Mayank Yadav back to full fitness after surgery, says ‘start of a new journey’

Mayank Yadav said in New Delhi on August 22, 2026 that he has returned to full fitness following surgery for a stress fracture and described his comeback after a recent T20I series against Zimbabwe as “the start of a new journey.” He made the remarks to the media as he resumes competitive cricket after an extended injury layoff.

Pace was the attribute that first propelled Yadav into the spotlight, when he registered a top speed of 156.7 kmph for Lucknow Super Giants in the 2024 Indian Premier League. That raw pace earned him a fast-tracked call into India’s T20I squad for a three-match series against Bangladesh in October 2024, in which he took four wickets at an economy rate of 6.91. A sequence of injuries over the following 18 months, most seriously a stress fracture in his back, required surgery and kept him out of large parts of the calendar.

Yadav returned to international action in a T20I series against Zimbabwe last month, where he struck with his first delivery and ended the series with five scalps as the Men in Blue completed a clean sweep. “To take a wicket off my first ball (against Zimbabwe) was a special feeling since I was returning after (almost) two years,” Mayank told the media on Friday.

He has been using the Delhi Premier League to rebuild workload and match sharpness, appearing in six of East Delhi Riders’ eight games and taking seven wickets at an average of 21.57. “I’m feeling 100% fit. I came to play in the DPL after the Zimbabwe tour because I wanted a lot of game-time,” Mayank said.

On the mental side during rehabilitation, he said gaming helped pass time and that he maintained a target of returning to the national side. “I played a lot of games on PlayStation when I was in rehab. It was a good pastime,” he revealed. “Mentally, to be in a good space, I was working towards the aim of representing the country again.”

The 24-year-old is now accumulating minutes in the ongoing Delhi Premier League as he completes his recovery, and he told reporters that “It feels like my run of injuries is over. This is like the start of a new journey.”