Delhi coach Davendra Sharma has wrought many gems. Mayank Yadav, the quick who drew attention hitting 156kph-plus in the last IPL, is the latest to come through the Delhi club where Davendra coaches. The veteran coach spoke to The Daily Star's Abdullah Al Mehdi on the secret of Mayank's pace, the young speedster's idols and the club he grew up in during an exclusive interview. The excerpts are as follows:

The Daily Star (DS): Mayank Yadav hasn't bowled at 150kph yet in this series. Was it due to a workload management plan?

Sharma: He did reach close to 150kph this series, but he had bowled at 156.7kph in the IPL. Mayank has natural speed. As a coach I feel that Indian wickets are not very fast but when he goes to Australia he will touch 160kph.

When he first came to me, he was 14 years old. He looked pretty weak but when he bowled, he showed that he was very quick off the pitch. So he was continued and given admission and played U-14, U-16 and did well for the club.

He used to bowl at the legs when he was young. To become a good bowler, you need to have rhythm, action and follow-through. We worked on those and you can see now how good his rhythm is and how steady his action is along with great seam position.

DS: What do you think is the secret to his speed?

Sharma: It's god-gifted. You see his rhythm, his height and the height his hands come from. When the ball comes from seven feet height and lands on the seam, it goes higher than the batsman's chest. That's extra bounce at pace.

DS: What kind of problems did he create for batters early on?

Sharma: Even before they could have a backlift, it used to hit their pads. Incoming deliveries would hit the handle and if they managed backlift, by then off-stump would cartwheel. It was about beating them with speed.

DS: He has a rapid wrist action with a jerk that comes at the end. Something like Brett Lee or Jasprit Bumrah?

Sharma: Yes, you are completely right. It takes a hit during that release. Yes, it's close to Brett Lee and Daly Steyn and he used to particularly like Dale Steyn. It's also true that it's like Bumrah a bit. He has bowled a lot to adopt those details.

DS: Does he speak to Bumrah?

Sharma: Yes, he talks to him when both are in the Indian team. The Indian team is such that they help each other a lot.

DS: Do you feel he would come to the red-ball format one day?

Sharma: Yes, definitely, he used to play just red-ball before in Ranji Trophy. But he has been taken off red-ball for now since there you have to bowl really long spells. After he finds footing in white-ball, he would come to red-ball. He has been coming to the club to bowl for the last month with me. He was taking preparations for Bangladesh series.

DS: Can you help us understand the club you work at?

Sharma: Our club is 50 years old and from Delhi, named Sonnet Cricket Club. I have spent 36 years myself at the club. I played Ranji Trophy for five years as a wicketkeeper-batter for Delhi. I have a century together with Virendar Sehwag in a Ranji game against Maharashtra.

Our club is very good and before Mayank, the club had produced 13 international players. Rishabh Pant was also there. The club's motto is based on three Ds: determination, dedication and discipline.