Lucknow Super Giants fast bowler Mayank Yadav is set to miss the first half of the Indian Premier League 2025 due to a back injury.

The pacer is currently at the Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru, where he is undergoing rehab after getting injured following his India debut in the T20I series against Bangladesh last October.

Though Mayank only played four matches last season he was retained by Lucknow Super Giants for INR 11 crore ahead of the IPL 2025 auction. Mayank Yadav featured in just four games in IPL 2024 and missed the remaining matches due to a lingering side strain.

It is worth mentioning that Mayank Yadav won back-to-back Player of the Match awards in his first two games and consistently hit the 150 kph mark throughout the season.

As per a report “Mayank is recovering from a lumbar stress injury and has just resumed bowling. There is no firm date set by the BCCI for Mayank’s return yet, but if he meets all the fitness parameters alongside increasing his bowling workload, he could feature in the latter half of the IPL”.

In February, former India fast bowler Zaheer Khan, who has taken over as LSG’s team director, said that the franchise was working closely with the BCCI’s medical team to chart a roadmap for Mayank’s return.

However, Zaheer stressed he would only want a totally fit Mayank back in the saddle. “As much as we are keen on having him (play IPL 2025), we want him 150% fit not just 100% fit so we’ll do everything possible to get him there,” he had said.

As per IPL 2025 LSG Schedule, Lucknow will play their first match of the season against Delhi Capitals on March 24 in Visakhapatnam, under new captain Rishabh Pant.

LSG squad IPL 2025: Nicholas Poran, Ravi Bishnoi, Mayank Yadav, Mohsin Khan, Ayush Badoni, Rishabh Pant, David Miller, Aiden Markram, Mitchell Marsh, Avesh Khan, ABDUL SamAD, Aryan Juyal, Akash Daeep, Akash Deeep Singh, M. Siddharth, Digvesh Singh, Shahbaz Ahmed, Akash Singh, Shamar Joseph, Prince Yadav, Yuvraj Chaudhary, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Arshin Kulkarni, Matthew Breetzke.