The 23-year-old Mayank Yadav has given a major health update and confirmed his availability for the IPL 2026 season.

The speedster had suffered an injury during the last season, which has kept him out. In August 2024, Mayank Yadav travelled to Christchurch and underwent back surgery. Since then, he has been in the Centre of Excellence (CoE) for his rehabilitation progress.

Having been retained for a price of INR 11 crore, Mayank Yadav has confirmed that he’ll be available for the IPL 2026 season. It is reported that the pacer has started bowling in the nets.

“I’ve started bowling, and my recovery is going well. So far, so good. I’ve worked a lot on my fitness. In the upcoming season, I’ll be available from day one,” said Mayank Yadav.

Speaking on his retention, the speedster said, “It’s a huge thing for me that the franchise and its owner have shown trust in me. Their backing gave me the confidence to recover faster.”

Mayank Yadav is expected to recover before the second half of the Ranji Trophy 2025-26 season, which is scheduled to commence in late January next year and will be aiming to get more match time after being out of action for the last two years.

“I’ve set myself only one goal — to play more and more games. That’s the only thing I’ve been missing for the last two years or so. Yes. If I’m able to play a couple of matches before the IPL, it will be good for me,” Mayank added.

Apart from his availability, Mayank Yadav has revealed that he met several fast bowlers, including Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah.

The former needed more than a year to recover from his knee injury, while the latter has had back injuries like Mayank.

Mayank Yadav spent significant time with Mohammed Shami and asked him questions. “I’ve known him for the last one and a half years, when I was with him in rehab and NCA. I had a chat with Shami bhai about my bowling and how to go about things in the future. It will be very exciting to bowl with him and learn from him,” said Mayank.

Mayank Yadav had travelled to New Zealand and used the same surgeon Bumrah did, Dr Rowan Schouten, for his back surgery. The 23-year-old speedster shared how the veteran pacer has been giving him tips about injury management.

“I learnt to understand my body more. Bumrah bhaiyya (Jasprit Bumrah) was here last year, before the IPL. I had a lot of good chats with him because he also went through the same surgery. He shared a lot of things with me about injury management,” he concluded.

Lucknow Super Giants has spent a total of INR 69 crore purse and will be entering the IPL 2026 auction with a purse value of INR 14.85 crore.

Lucknow has 6 vacant slots in total, with 4 overseas and 2 Indian player slots. The auction is set for December 16 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, UAE.