Is Mayank Yadav playing today's LSG vs RR IPL 2024 match?

Mayank Yadav will be absent during Lucknow Super Giant's (LSG) game against Rajasthan Royals (RR) on Saturday (April 27). He is still recovering from an abdominal soreness and is expected to return to action soon.

The Super Giants have made no changes after they secured a confidence-boosting victory against the Chennai Super Kings, courtesy of Marcus Stoinis' century.

Here's what LSG skipper KL Rahul said during the toss:

"No changes for us. Every player goes through a bit of time like that when you can't get runs ( asked about Padikkal's form). He looks good in the nets and he'll have to stay positive, you saw last night when Jonny came back after getting dropped and then getting a hundred."

The young fast-bowling sensation has been out of action since the game against the Gujarat Titans on April 27, where he sustained a soreness in the lower abdominal area. In a move to manage his workload, Yadav was sidelined for LSG's next four games.

On the eve of the LSG-RR game, assistant coach Sridharan Sriram had hoped that Yadav was close to 100% fitness to make a comeback. He said:

“We’ll see how he pulls up after the nets session today. He is pretty close, so yeah, hopefully [he plays], fingers crossed.”

However, it looks like Yadav didn't fulfill the criteria to make a case for starting against the Royals.

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Mayank Yadav has turned heads in IPL 2024

Making his IPL debut on March 30 against Punjab Kings, Mayank Yadav bagged the Player of the Match for his figures of 3/27 in four overs.

In the following game against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Yadav finished with figures of 3/14 in four overs to secure another Player of the Match award. He consistently clocked speeds north of 150kph, with the highest being 156.7kph.

According to assistant coach, Sriram, Yadav has been brilliant with his accuracy and lengths along with his express pace.

LSG are currently fourth in the points table with five wins in eight appearances. It will be interesting to see if they can win this game and climb to the second spot.