Shivam Mavi reflects on his poor performance in IPL 2022

Kolkata Knight Riders' young pace sensation Shivam Mavi had a below-average run in the Indian Premier League 2022. The Knight Riders shelled a whopping INR 7.25 crore for the pacer during the IPL 2022 mega auction. However, Mavi failed to justify his hefty paycheck.

He featured in only six IPL 2022 matches and picked up five wickets. All the five wickets scalped by Mavi comprised the batting greats, but his economy of 10.32 became a significant concern for the two-time champion. 

The seamer labelled his heel injury as one of the reasons behind his poor form. Mavi revealed that he was in a lot of pain during the tournament and thus failed to find his rhythm. The 23-year-old also lauded KKR management for backing him in his tough times. 

Reflecting on his healing journey, Mavi mentioned that bowling in nets for long sessions helped him find his rhythm. Speaking about the advice he received from the team management, Shivam revealed that the KKR officials told him to practice since he had hardly played any games before the IPL 2022. 

"I had a heel injury, and it was so painful that I couldn't build my rhythm well in the first few matches. I talked to the coaches and the management, and they said it was because I hadn't got much time to bowl since the injury,"

I was undergoing rehab at the KKR Academy, and I was bowling at 50-60 per cent fitness and slowly took it to 100 per cent. I was managing with painkillers and sleeping pills but couldn't follow my work ethic properly as some things do get restricted in practice.

"I missed a couple of games and then played again. Then it didn't go great again, so the management told me I needed to bowl more. So I bowled a lot in the nets to get my rhythm back and better my execution," Shivam Mavi said while speaking to Sportskeeda. 

Mavi opens up on his meeting with childhood hero Dale Steyn

Furthermore, the batter shed light on his meeting with former South African speedster Dale Steyn. It was a dream come true for Mavi as he had a candid chat with Steyn during IPL 2022. 

The 23-year-old mentioned that Steyn advised him to work on his pace to confirm a place in the Indian team. Dale Steyn was a part of IPL 2022 as a fast bowling coach for Sunrisers Hyderabad. 

"It was my dream to meet Dale Steyn because I've been following him since I was a kid. So it felt really, really good to meet him. I shared things with him and talked about the [injury] issues, and he said, "It's OK, these things happen. You just need to focus on the things that'll help you move forward".

"He also said, "Just keep bowling fast, you'll 100 per cent play for India". He told a lot of things on the mental aspect as well, so it was a really good learning experience," Mavi added.