Mumbai Indians cricketers in action during IPL 2024© AFP
Mumbai Indians fast bowler Gerald Coetzee shattered youngster Mayank Yadav‘s record by delivering the fastest ball of IPL 2024 during the match against Rajasthan Royals on Monday. Mayank clinched the record just two days ago when he delivered a 155.8 kmph ball for Lucknow Super Giants but Coetzee surpassed his mark by quite some margin. The 157.4 kmph scorcher from the South Africa international came in the final ball of RR’s chase and Riyan Parag was able to guide it towards the third-man boundary for a four. Overall, Coetzee is second behind former Australia fast bowler Shaun Tait who delivered a 157.71 kmph ripper while playing for Rajasthan Royals back in 2011.
Fastest deliveries in IPL history:
Shaun Tait 157.71 kmph – 2011
Gerald Coetzee 157.4 kmph – 2024
Lockie Ferguson 157.3 kmph – 2022
Umran Malik 157 kmph – 2022
Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya on Tuesday asserted that the former champions will not give up and will continue to fight in the ongoing IPL despite slumping to a hat-trick of defeats.
“If there’s one thing you should know about this team, we never give up. We’ll keep fighting, we’ll keep going,” Hardik posted on X.
Hardik has been facing the ire of fans since replacing Rohit Sharma as MI captain. The all-rounder was booed in the team’s opening two matches and the crowd hostility was at its peak in MI’s first home game of the season on Monday.
To add to the woes, under his captaincy MI’s campaign at the 2024 IPL got off to a disastrous start as they sit at the bottom of the table following three losses on the trot.
However, MI are known to be perennial slow starters. In 2015, they lost the first four games before going on to win the title.
Hardik’s poor captaincy calls have also been questioned — whether it was not giving Bumrah the new ball or sending Tim David ahead of himself against Gujarat Titans.
The change in captaincy has not sat well with the legions of MI supporters. On Monday, chants of ‘Rohit Rohit’ filled the Wankhede with the Indian captain himself asking the crowd not to jeer Hardik.
Mumbai Indians will next face Delhi Capitals at home on Sunday.
(With PTI inputs)
Topics mentioned in this article
