When Patiala mystery foxed Mahi

Chandigarh: Three months back, when this correspondent walked up to Mayank Markande at the I S Bindra PCA Stadium, Mohali, and asked for his contact number, pat came his query, “Bhaiya what will you do with my contact number? I am nobody.”
Fast forward to April 8, Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, the Patiala lad is now a household name after returning with figures of 3 for 23 in 4 overs making his Indian Premier League (IPL) debut for Mumbai Indians against Chennai Super Kings on Saturday.And mind you, one of his victims was Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Though, his memorable debut came in a losing cause, there’s no denying, the leggie has for sure got the right impetus to dream big.
And his brilliant spell has earned him overnight fame. So, now that he foxed Dhoni, how many missed calls and unread messages has he received so far? “Mat pucho, so bhi nahi paya hun thk se (Don’t ask I haven’t slept well). After the match when I opened my mobile, I had 37 missed calls and 300 unread messages to attend to. I was not expecting it,” recollects the 20-year-old to TOI.
On the wicket of Dhoni, the Patiala lad says, “I am still in shock. I will cherish this wicket my entire life. Never in my wildest dreams, did I imagine, I would dismiss Dhoni,” he says.
Markande was given the ball by his skipper Rohit Sharma after the powerplay and he slipped in a googly to Ambati Rayudu with his third ball. Rayudu could not pick the wrong'un from the back of the hand.
Exactly two overs later, Markande trapped Dhoni plumb as the latter tried to work him down the leg side. It was Markande's zippy action that didn't give Dhoni much time and once the ball came in after pitching instead of going away, Dhoni hardly had any time to adjust.
Luckily for Dhoni, the umpire turned the lbw appeal down but the Mumbai captain, at slip reviewed it immediately buoyed by the confidence on his bowler’s face. The third umpire overturned the on-field umpire’s decision and the former Indian skipper had to take the long walk back to the dressing room.
“I was not expecting this kind of a debut. Honestly speaking, I had no clue I would be making by debut. Rohit bhai just told me to be prepared. I was very nervous but I started settling down after I delivered the first ball,” says the Bathinda-born cricketer who initially aspired to be a fast bowler.
Looking back, he was around 11 when his coaches advised him to shift to spin because of his lack of pace. Disheartened, Markande capitalised on his back-of-the-hand slower which translated into the googly, after turning a leggie. And it is probably the only thing he has retained after turning to spin. He worked on his leg breaks with the coaches at the academy for a couple of years and as he says, “Things panned out pretty well.”
Markande went on to train under former India all-rounder Reetinder Sodhi's father Mahesh Inder Singh in Patiala and later moved to an academy run by Munish Bali, who played for the State Bank of Patiala.
“He came to me at the age of 14 disappointed because he wanted to be a fast bowler. It took him some time to realise fast bowling was not his cup of tea. He has a very sharp googly and he is quite accurate. Thanks to the way he delivers the ball and the control he has with his variations, he could be unstoppable,” Bali says.
Markande was playing an U-23 game for Punjab on the IPL auction day in January and had no idea that he had been purchased by Mumbai Indians for the 2018 season for a price of Rs 20 lakh.
But that is a thing of the past now. Markande’s dream debut would hopefully open new vistas, but with success comes responsibility. However, the young lad is in no mood to get carried away. “I have to work harder now, as I don’t want to be called a one-match wonder. My journey had just begun,” says Markande, brimming with confidence.