LSG coach Justin Langer heaps praise on Digvesh Rathi

“Like all the great spinners, he loves bowling,” Langer said in the press conference after Digvesh’s 1/21 on a high-scoring night. “Oh my gosh, if he could bowl 16 hours a day, he’d bowl 16 hours a day,” Langer told reporters of Rathi, who has picked up six wickets in four matches. He probably bowls in the corridor of the hotel, he bowls at breakfast, he bowls in the shower, he bowls everywhere … he is being rewarded for years and years of practice, and now he is in the big league, he has got an unbelievable work ethic.”

Langer also sounded positive about an imminent comeback for tearaway quick Mayank Yadav, who lit up the IPL by clocking 150kph+ consistently, but has been injured frequently. “He’s working very hard at the NCA, and I saw some video of him bowling, where he was at about 90 to 95%,” Langer said at the press conference, while jokingly answering a call when a reporter’s phone rang. “So Mayank’s up and running, which is really great for Indian cricket, for IPL. We saw the impact he had last year. I don’t think there’s been a bowler in India who’s bowled faster than Mayank. That’s why there’s so much talk about him. He’s up, he’s keen to get going.”

Langer also thanked NCA for helping LSG get back some of the injured players, “They have obviously done a very good job because they’ve got Avesh Khan back for us, they’ve got our Akash Deep back for us. So we really appreciate the work they’re doing to get the boys back playing and now hopefully Mayank as well.”