Mayank Yadav became the first player ever to win back-to-back player of the match awards in their first two matches of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Of the fast bowler's six victims, five were bounced out by sheer pace. The anomaly was the Australian all-rounder Cameroon Green.

Growing up playing on the bouncy wickets of Perth, Green had pulled a short ball from Yadav with disdain. The speedster aimed the next one on the fifth stump. Green just prodded at the delivery, only to find it nipping back into the stumps at a speed of 146.7 kilometres per hour (kph).

That was a slower one from a bowler who had hit a ridiculous high of 156.7 kph on Tuesday night (2 April).

Special Talent

Standing at 6.1-feet tall, Yadav has always showed a natural ability to bowl quick. When he joined the Sonnet Cricket Club, he had a weak teenage frame. Adhering to strict fitness standards, he grew in stature and pace.

Yadav has shown sharp control over his armoury. He has not displayed a proclivity for edging out batsmen by bowling short and wide. Instead, his preferred strategy has been to bowl into the body, and on the good and fuller length. His length deliveries have extra bounce, making it difficult for batsmen to attack him.

Yadav is also not afraid of landing the ball on seam, something that bowlers tend to fear and avoid in the shorter formats. Movement off the pitch at such a rapid pace makes it doubly difficult for batsmen to face him, as Green realised on the night of 2 April.

If attacked, the speedster unleashes his short ball and mixes it up with fuller ones to surprise the batsmen.

Relatively unknown before the IPL, Yadav is now the face of fast bowling in the 2024 edition of the IPL.

More Than One

Along with Yadav, Nandre Burger and Gerald Coetzee from South Africa and Matheesha Pathirana from Sri Lanka have shown great pace and control.

Burger, who took up cricket to pursue a psychology major, is a left-arm, all-format pacer from South Africa. His left-arm quick deliveries on a Test match length have rattled many a top order batsman.

Playing for Rajasthan Royals, Burger frequently bowls in the late 140s. His fastest delivery in the tournament is 153 kph.

Twenty-three-year-old Coetzee hits the deck hard and challenges the stable base of batsmen. Wearing a bandana, he bowls bouncers that have sharp upward trajectories and which often hurry the batsmen.

Though Coetzee tends to be expensive, it doesn’t deter his confidence in clocking an excess of 145 kph on the speedometre. His speeds, attitude, and celebrations often compel a comparison with Dale Steyn, the best fast bowler South Africa has ever produced.

With an action eerily similar to Lasith Malinga, Pathirana also regularly bowls yorkers at high speeds, in the late 140s and early 150s. He is quick through the air and also swings the ball at pace.

Earlier, he tended to be wayward, but the world saw an improved Pathirana when he clean-bowled Mitchell Marsh and Tristan Stubbs in the game against Delhi Capitals.

Old Guns

IPL 2024 also boasts of some relatively older war horses like Anrich Nortje, Lockie Ferguson, Alzarri Joseph, and Umran Malik.

Nortje, a typical South African pacer, is recovering from injuries and is not at his best. Though he has bowled at speeds in the late 140s, he has not fully exploded on to the bowling crease as he once used to do.

The lack of a full effort due to a fear of injury has resulted in Nortje leaking runs, which includes a hammering by Dhoni. But the mustache king won’t lower his pace.

Playing for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), Joseph has shown pace, but has also leaked runs at 10.5 runs per over. The relatively small size of Bengaluru's Chinnaswamy Stadium makes it a tough venue for extreme pace. This is one reason why when it came to replacing Joseph, RCB went with medium pacer Reece Topley instead of the tearaway pace of Ferguson.

Amidst all this pacy competition, Malik is struggling for form. Injuries and adapting to international standards have not been easy for the 24-year-old. In 2024, he has played only one match for the Sunrisers Hyderabad. Though struggling for control, Malik has maintained his high pace.

BCCI’s Ace Role

Many might consider it a miracle that bowlers are bowling quick in India, a country whose pitches were once thought of as hostile to pace bowling. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), deserves praise for the change.

Indian cricket's governing body has encouraged talent hunts for budding fast bowlers in India. Best of the facilities are provided at the MRF Pace Foundation and the National Cricket Academy (NCA).

Recently, the BCCI also introduced a special contract under which fast bowlers would be given Rs 1 crore and additional training facilities. Now, pitches in India offer better pace and bounce, especially apparent during the IPLs.

Bouncer Rule

In IPL, bowlers can now bowl two bouncers in an over. Seemingly small, the rule brings about a massive change in mindset.

Earlier, after one bouncer was bowled, batsmen would plant their legs on the front foot and attack bowlers without fear. With two bouncers possible in an over, fast bowlers now have more bargaining power.

"It is a huge, huge advantage. The biggest advantage is, you can bowl them at any point in an over — as opposed to [having to think of] when is the best, when we had just one bouncer an over," fast-bowling legend Dale Steyn said about the rule change.

"You can now go really hard early on: bowl a bouncer very first ball or second ball, then bowl a couple of length deliveries, then go defensive and close off the over. The more options you have, the better as a bowler. I can package my over better now," he added.

The world has seen an excess of line-and-length medium pacers during and after the time of the Australian great Glenn McGrath. Cricket now needs speed, something that the market is also thirsting for.

Nandre Burger

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