Cricketers from Madhya Pradesh Mangesh YadavThe native of Pandhurna district of Jabalpur division is set to represent the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 champions Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) under the leadership of Rajat Patidar. The 23-year-old fast bowler will share the dressing room with some of the biggest names in world cricket, including Virat Kohli, Josh Hazlewood, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Phil Salt.
Mangesh was bought by RCB in the IPL 2026 mini-auction for Rs 5.20 crore, while his base price was just Rs 30 lakh. The intense bidding pushed their value up nearly 17.5x, indicating growing interest in their capabilities. He attracted the attention of scouts with his pace, accuracy and exceptional skill in consistently bowling yorkers, especially in the death overs.
Coming from a humble background, the rise of Mangesh is nothing short of inspiring. His father works as a truck driver, and the family lives in a rented room costing Rs. 1,200 per month. His IPL selection has brought a big turning point for his family. Passionate about cricket since a young age, Mangesh took the difficult decision to leave formal education after Class 12 to pursue the game full-time.
In search of better opportunities, he moved to Noida to further his cricket career. His persistence paid off when he emerged as the leading wicket-taker in the Madhya Pradesh T20 League, taking 14 wickets in 21 overs for Gwalior Cheetahs. These performances earned him a place in the senior Madhya Pradesh team and he made his T20 debut in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
During the Super League stage of the tournament, Mangesh played a few matches, taking three wickets and contributing a quickfire 28 runs off just 12 balls with the bat. Known for his humility, he has often given away the prize money of local tournaments to the ground staff, keeping only the trophies as souvenirs. In one instance, he even gifted the racing bicycle he won in the Chhindwara MP Cup to the ground workers.
After the success of their auction, there was a celebration in Borgaon, about 35 km from Pandhurna. Mangesh, a middle overs specialist, is considered a promising talent. RCB has also signed players like Venkatesh Iyer, Jacob Duffy and Satwik Deswal, it will be interesting to see how the Rajat Patidar-led side utilizes this emerging fast bowler in the upcoming season.
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