As Mayank Yadav stood at the top of his run-up with the new ball, ready to make his international comeback after two years and multiple injuries, there may have been a sense of trepidation among the VVS Laxman-led support staff. The same people he has spent the most time with on the long road back.
There were some obvious questions: Will he continue to bowl fast? Can he sustain the hostility right through his four overs? Will he follow through well enough to not strain his back? Will his jump be in perfect alignment with what the biomechanics experts have spent months trying to rewire?
It is likely that answers to all these questions will only emerge slowly, but at least early impressions are that Mayank is well and truly back. And there was enough reassurance in his 2 for 18 off four overs in the first T20I against Zimbabwe to allay some of those initial fears.
Mayank struck off the first delivery of the match with a ball that squared Brian Bennett up, taking the faintest of edges that no one except Ishan Kishan heard. Dion Myers then kept hanging back in the rest of the over, unsure of his footwork against some serious heat.
There was more of the same in Mayank's second over in the powerplay. Ten of Mayank's first 12 balls were in the mid-to-high 140kph range. His fastest was clocked at 149kph. The pace and zip off the pitch, married with the typical Test-match length ranging from short-of-a-length to good length (21 of his 24 balls were of these varieties), helped repeatedly square batters up or thud the ball onto the top part of the bat.
Mayank was certainly pleased with his day's work, which won him the Player-of-the-Match award.
"It's always a great feeling when you come back and play for your country and especially bowl like this, this type of spell," Mayank told the broadcaster. "It's a fantastic feeling and I don't think I can describe it well through my words."
What made Mayank's comeback all the more intriguing was that he wasn't part of the India A tour that played a tri-series in Sri Lanka. His much-delayed IPL entry in 2026 didn't go to plan either - four games yielding no wickets and an economy of over 11.
Given India's failings against Ireland and England, particularly with the ball, India picking a rookie pace attack ought to have been a massive punt. So there must have been some relief in equal measure that he was able to repay the faith.
"Yeah, obviously the nerves were there because I was coming after two years and there is always pressure when you come [and] play for your country," Mayank said. "But my thinking and my plans were very simple: just execute to my strength and just keep bowling. After the first ball wicket, I calmed down a lot. I got the confidence. I'm playing after a while, but still I can deliver with the skills I have, that strength I have; it will help me a lot on these types of wickets, especially."
Watching him bowl, you could see the kind of fire he unleashed against Cameron Green and Glenn Maxwell in his breakthrough performance in the IPL two years ago. One second the ball was leaving his hand, the next it would thud the stumps and fly on the bounce over the ropes behind the wicket.
To understand Mayank's efforts, you need to rewind a bit to the tougher times. There is a reason so much of the conversation around Mayank had revolved around his body rather than his bowling. It helps that he understands the occupational hazards of being a fast bowler. But to his credit, he hasn't shied away from bowling fast, even if it brings with it the inherent risk of injuries, of which he knows a lot more than most young bowlers do.
Since bursting through in IPL 2024, he has spent more time in rehab for multiple injuries than on the field. A lumbar stress fracture, lower back spasms, toe injury, side strain, hamstring tear… we've just scratched the surface.
Mayank's wretched luck has brought him one injury while he was in rehab for another twice. Like in May 2025, when he jammed his toe onto the side of his bed and developed a laceration leading to an infection while he was days away from being issued a Return to Play (RTP) from his back problems.
Or like in late 2025, when he served thunderbolts to India's top batters at BCCI's Centre of Excellence in a spell that had everyone, the support staff included, wipe a tear at finally seeing his hard work (and theirs) bear fruit, only for him to complain of hamstring soreness that led to a new injury and a new set of rehab exercises.
Mayank himself saw the lighter side of it at the time, joking how he needed to be seen less in injury bulletins and more in team sheets. Going by his comeback on Thursday, the signs are encouraging. The visceral thrill that excited people enough to believe he can be persisted with was evident to everyone. The problem with such skyrocketing expectation, though, is the desperation to play - a mental battle Mayank has had to stave off.
"There are a lot of things: physical training, mentally. When you're injured and in that phase, mental strength makes a huge difference for any player," Mayank said of the tough times. "So, I think more than physically, for me, mentally I got much better and I knew my body a lot after the surgery and after the rehab. So, it makes a huge difference for me."
In making it clear he ain't going to trade pace for anything else - something many Indian fast bowlers over the years have slipped into, not by choice but because of circumstances - Mayank's own understanding of his game and body has shone through.
Now for him to make the most of his second, or maybe the third, wind.