Team India speedster Umesh Yadav is currently playing for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL and had expressed his desire to represent his nation in all three formats of the game.
In the recent past, Umesh hasn’t been part of the limited-overs squad. He had only played the Tests in the recent past. However, he didn’t get a match in South Africa, as Jasprit Bumrah was preferred ahead of him and he kept delivering.
“That’s a tag I’ve carried all along,” Umesh said while talking about him being regarded largely a long-form specialist.
“Because in Test cricket, you have a lot of time to play around with your pace and swing. If you have the talent, you can reverse it.
“I want to play all three formats for my country because I enjoy all three formats. I have age on my side, and I believe I have the ability to deliver in all formats. Always try and give it my best because whether you’re bowling in limited-overs cricket or in Tests, you have to hit the same length with the new ball,” Umesh was quoted as saying by the ESPN Cricinfo.
Photo by: Vipin Pawar / IPL/ SPORTZPICS
Umesh has tough competition from the likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Hardik Pandya. The fast bowler has played only 71 ODI’s for India since 2011 besides playing 36 Tests. He has played only one T20I against Sri Lanka in 2012 and bagged a wicket for 24 runs in three overs.
Umesh bowled brilliantly yesterday (April 13th) for the Royal Challengers Bangalore and returned with an impressive spell of 3/23.
His spell was instrumental in giving RCB their maiden win of the tournament against the Kings XI Punjab. The speedster also bagged a couple of wickets against the Kolkata Knight Riders in the opening match for both the franchises.
“When you get a fast bowler as your coach, especially one who invests a lot of confidence in you, gives you all the help and support you need, your own confidence as a bowler starts soaring,” Umesh said of the role RCB bowling coach Ashish Nehra had played.
“Nehra paaji told me, ‘You’ve got pace at over 140, so you must try and pitch it on the stumps. If a batsman tries to hit you straight or comes down and clobbers a six, that’s fine with me.”
“So I tried to give it all the energy I had, hit the right lengths and areas. And I’ve been able to do this because of him. Ever since our camp began, he’s made me practice bowling at the stumps, with the off stump as the marker on the off side.”
The Kings XI Punjab openers Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul had got them off to a flying start. They raced off to 32 in the first three overs before Umesh had Mayank caught behind and added the wicket of the Finch in the very next delivery. He finished the over with the wicket of Yuvraj Singh.
“Over the past three-four months, I have played a lot of cricket against Mayank Agarwal,” Umesh said. “So my strategy was to make him play as straight as possible with my stump-to-stump line. And that’s what I kept trying. I pitched up the first delivery, luring him into a flashy hit, and that’s what he did.
“With Aaron Finch, I knew he’s someone who’s never too comfortable if you bowl him an inswinger at the start of the over,” he said. “So I bowled one on a good length and into the stumps, swung in it with a lot of pace and that ploy worked for me.”
“Initially my plan was to bowl the first deliveries on a good length, then bowl a bouncer and then bowl on a length again,” Umesh said. “I worked on my plans, and I executed them well. That’s precisely why I got those three wickets.”
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