Fast bowling star Mayank Yadav, who won his second consecutive match on Tuesday, will be hoping that his stellar start to the IPL will translate into an appearance for Team India. The 21-year-old is a rookie of the season after two consecutive outstanding performances in his first season. However, the IPL is just a means to an end for Mayank.

“It feels really good to win the Man of the Match award twice in two games. I’m happy that we won both games. My goal is to play for the national team. I feel like this is just the beginning. I’m most happy that we won both games. Loved the wicket of Cameron Green,” Mayank said after LSG’s win over RCB.

His three wickets included Green, Glenn Maxwell and Raja Patidar. Mayank missed last season due to injury and he knows the importance of physical fitness.

“There are many factors that go into fast bowling – diet, sleep, training. I focus a lot on my diet and recovery – ice baths,” he said.

LSG captain KL Rahul was delighted with the cricketer, who showed great temperament to go with his thunderous pace.

The 21-year-old, who unsettled Kings XI Punjab batsmen with his pace on his IPL debut, followed up by inflicting a similar treatment on the RCB batsmen and ended up picking up his second consecutive wicket.

It was difficult for Rahul to keep up with Mayank, but he wasn’t complaining.

“One ball hit me hard and it’s great to see Mayank playing the way he has been playing. He has waited patiently for a year, he works very hard, he is very professional and has a great temperament,” Rahul said in his post-match speech Zhong said. RCB skipper Faf du Plessis also paid due praise to Mayank.

“It’s new moves you’ve never faced before and if they’re in rhythm it takes time to get used to. But his ability to control length and accuracy is impressive.

“You need two guys to bat and build a partnership and we couldn’t do that. We need strong personalities in the dressing room to put their hands up,” Du Plessis said as RCB suffered its third defeat in four games Said later.