The Indian Premier League (IPL) reigning kings, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), made a second highest bid at the IPL 2026 auction for a young 23-year-old player from Madhya Pradesh. After the franchise bought Venkatesh Iyer, the erstwhile Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) star, for INR 7 crore, they again placed a big bet on the pace-bowling all-rounder and won the deal for a whopping INR 5.20 crore.
The Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) were also very much keen about the player and decided to continue with the fight between the two cities over the young player. Yet, the party that failed to clinch the deal still credited a lot the influence of a former SRH player in bringing about the seamer’s entry into the limelight.
How Anand Rajan Helped RCB Recruit to Enter Madhya Pradesh Circuit
The 16-year-old Mangesh had migrated from Uttar Pradesh to Noida with the intention of becoming a professional cricketer and was soon spotted by the ex-state captain Tanmay Srivastava. When the former UP batter could not manage a spot for the all-rounder in their side, he had urged the Madhya Pradesh bowler Anand Rajan to arrange opportunities for the youngster.
“Tanmay and I have been friends for many years. He said, ‘I am sending this kid. He is very good. Look after him. See if he can get some opportunities in MP.’ I got him enrolled in the same academy where Venkatesh Iyer practices – MYCC,” the ex-SRH player told ESPN.
However, as Rajan saw the talent was not being appreciated enough, his suggestion to the kid to relocate to Jabalpur turned out to be a major breakthrough. The all-rounder caught a lot of attention by putting up a great fight while playing for the team.
He was a steady performer in that place, but even there it was not simple to get steady chances. The consideration of sending him to Jabalpur was to make sure of more game time because the fight for positions was not so great. He instantly got into their district team, taking 35-40 wickets in a season,” he said.
Mangesh Yadav is the Highest Wicket-taker of MP Premier League 2025
Once this happened, he became the talk of the town in the Madhya Pradesh Premier League 2025, thus drawing the interest of many franchises before the IPL 2026 mini auction. Mangesh took 14 wickets in six matches with an economy of 8.00. His performances included three four-wicket hauls, which was the best in this tournament edition.
Besides, the all-rounder managed to score only 60 runs in five innings but at the same time he had a very fast strike rate of 206.90. This fierce form with the bat was seen by the player in the recently concluded Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) 2025. Along with taking three wickets in two matches, Mangesh also scored a quick 12-ball 28 against Punjab.
Based on his recent performances the young player might be a valuable asset to the team’s IPL 2026 roster. In the opening match of the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025-26, he has even sent the ex-RCB player Mahipal Lomror back to the pavilion.