Pace sensation Mayank Yadav gets India call-up, Varun Chakravarthy recalled after three years
India squad for Bangladesh T20Is
New Delhi, Sep 28: India's fastest bowler Mayank Yadav on Saturday got fast-tracked into the Indian team for the three-match T20I series against Bangladesh after completing his near five-month rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy.
The team set to be led by Suryakumar Yadav only has one more senior -- former T20I skipper Hardik Pandya -- in its ranks as all the recent IPL performers have been selected.
Mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy, who plays for Kolkata Knight Riders, got a recall after three years since his nightmarish T20 World Cup campaign in the UAE in 2021.
Nitish Reddy, the back-up seamer all-rounder after Pandya and Shivam Dube, also got a look-in after he missed out on the recent Zimbabwe tour owing to an injury.
The talented players like Riyan Parag, Abhishek Sharma, Harshit Rana have all found a place in the 15-man squad that has Jitesh Sharma as the second keeper behind Sanju Samson.
The biggest surprise is certainly the inclusion of Mayank, who consistently bowled mid-150 clicks for Lucknow Super Giants during three of his four IPL matches including back-to-back Player of the Match awards which garnered global attention.
It was during mid-IPL, the 22-year-old Mayank, who hails from Delhi, was ruled out due to lower abdominal strain.
Such has been his talent that he was wrapped in cotton wool with an extensive rehabilitation programme and of late has been bowling 14-15 overs per day at the NCA.
However, it is believed that before being unleashed into red ball format in Ranji Trophy, Bangladesh series is the best opportunity for the national selection committee and head coach Gautam Gambhir to check out how he is coping at the international level with only four overs to bowl.
If his body holds up well, they might slowly draft him into the longer formats as he is considered a prospect who will serve Indian cricket for the longest time.
Chakravarthy, a vital cog in KKR's victorious IPL campaign under Gambhir's mentorship, was overlooked as recently as the tour to Zimbabwe and also Sri Lanka despite an impressive 21 wickets from 14 games.
However, it is understood that Gambhir was very keen on having Chakravarthy, who mainly bowls fast leg-breaks along with a deceptive wrong 'un.
India will play three T20Is in Gwalior (October 6), New Delhi (October 9) and Hyderabad (October 12) against Najmul Hossain Shanto's Bangladesh.
India’s squad for 3 T20Is against Bangladesh: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Rinku Singh, Hardik Pandya, Riyan Parag, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Mayank Yadav.
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Mandya: Curtains on 87th Kannada Sahitya Sammelana; Ballari to be venue for next literature featival
Mandya: Curtains came down the 87th All India Kannada Sahitya Sammelana in the city on Saturday night, with the Kannada Sahitya Parishad declaring that the next Kannada literature festival will be organized in Ballari district in 2025.
In a meeting held at a private hospital here on Sunday night, representatives of the Kannada Sahitya Parishads of all districts of the state came to a unanimous decision that Ballari would be the venue for the 88th Kannada Sahitya Sammelana, giving the border district the privilege of hosting a Kannada literature festival after 66 years.
Some of the representatives suggested Chikkamagaluru and New Delhi too while the matter of venue for the next Sammelana was raised, but the members finalized on Ballari as the district that would host the next literature festival.
The Kannada Sahitya Sammelana was organized in Ballari in the pre-Independence era in the years 1926 and 1938. After Independence, the festival was organized at the Municipal College grounds in the city and presided over by Jnanpith Award-winning Kannada writer VK Gokak.
