Lucknow Super Giants' Mayank Yadav has terrorised batters this season and Gujarat Titans batter David Miller on Saturday suggested his teammates to either take him down or negotiate his overs carefully when they face the young pace sensation in their IPL game in Lucknow.
Yadav's searing pace and accuracy have made the 21-year-old one of the most feared bowlers in IPL 2024 and given LSG a big edge against their opponents in the ongoing edition.
Yadav has taken six wickets in the two games that he has played so far with an amazing average of 6.83, and Miller, who missed their last game against Punjab Kings due to injury, said it was great to see the energy in the young pacer.
"He is bowling really well, something that we are aware of and making sure that we do what we need to against him. Sometimes the faster the ball comes the further it goes.
"If you feel like you can take him down (then) take him down, other than that he is bowling really well and just get through (his overs) and you can line up some other bowler (to score runs)," said Miller, GT's South African middle-order batter, during a pre-match press conference.
"It's great to see some fast bowlers coming through. Express pace like that is exciting. You get a lot of attention and stuff like that. He's pretty young, so he's got a lot of years ahead of him. It's great to see the energy that he runs in; the exuberance of youth.”
Miller said that GT's charismatic spinner Rashid Khan continued to be a potent weapon in the team's arsenal despite the Afghan cricketer being punished during the three-wicket loss against Shikhar Dhawan's side.
Despite putting 199 runs on the board, GT lost a thriller to PBKS with Shashank Singh scoring a swashbuckling unbeaten 61 off 29 balls.
Asked if the opposition batters had read his bowling, Miller said it was not the case.
"No, he has been trying hard and bowling really well. The previous game he got hit for a couple of sixes, that's the nature of the game. They (PBKS) needed to go at 12, 13, 14 (runs) an over.
"So there was no real option for them other than to take those big risks. He (Rashid) is a world-class player, he has played for many years now and he knows exactly what to do.
"He has been hit for a couple of sixes... it's just one of those things and, as I said, tomorrow is a new game and he has got all the experience that we need as a team. We are right behind him and he is bowling really well," added Miller.
While Vijay Shankar failed to fire, Miller felt there was no real reason to change the line-up and bring in someone else, including Abhinav Manohar.
"I feel like the batting line-up is doing well and we are very happy with where we are at. There are still a lot of games in the tournament but for now, the guys are in good space," he said.
"We are disappointed to lose the last game. Had we won that, it would have been three (wins) from four (games)."
