On a pitch that looked like a bowler’s nightmare, Indian pacer Umesh Yadav along with Mohammad Shami destroyed the West Indies batsmen by taking four wickets apiece and dismissing the hosts for only 243 in reply of India’s 566. Asked to follow on, the hosts were 21 for 1 by the end of day’s play. In the press conference after day 3, Yadav spoke on the team’s strategy, attacking fields and much more.
Excerpts:
On the team’s strategy when wickets were not coming:
It is all about the planning. Before the game, we planned about these things. And our plan was to bowl maiden overs if the batsman gets set. So the plan was to see how many maiden overs we can bowl to frustrate the batsmen and not give the runs easily. We stuck to the plan and got the results.
On the idea behind setting up attacking fields:
We decided all of this from beforehand and there wasn’t anything in the wicket for fast bowlers. So our effort was to bowl as many maiden overs as possible but the wind was also affecting our bowling, moving the ball a bit more sometimes it was not reversing as well. So we were talking continuously as to what we should do and grab half chances even if they come to us. Because on such wickets a lot of hard work is needed and you need to hold even half chances, so we needed to grab them. If we don’t then wickets won’t come and it would be difficult to take 20 wickets as the wicket would slow down even more. So the plan was to stick to the plan and bowl in proper areas as much as we can and be consistent and bowl maiden overs. And make the batsman play bad shots.
On the relation between the bowlers:
Our chemistry is very good and we are always giving confidence to each other and pushing each other through tough times on such wickets. And try to bowl as per the plan. I can see that Shami is bowling very well but he is not getting wickets. So my job is to go and compliment him and tell him to keep going. Because I know if he is bowling well from one end, it will only help the other bowler from the other end. So if he don’t bowl to plan and don’t compliment each other it will be difficult for us. Wickets won’t come otherwise, we have to plan bowl dot balls and maidens. Then only we will get wickets and so it is important to compliment each other, bowl maidens from both ends and the wicket can come from the other end also. (It is) all about backing each other and supporting teammates and our bonding is very good. We are always sharing jokes and laughing and that helps us get through difficult times on difficult pitches and it is important to support each other in such cases.
On Mohammed Shami:
He is a natural bowler. He is not struggling after injury but he is fit now and he doesn’t need to be told where to bowl. He is a smart bowler and he has inswing, outswing, a good bouncer, he is a complete bowler so he is a good bowler and I don’t think there is a need to even compliment him. He is a very talented bowler and we all of us in the group compliment each other.
On whether the huge total gave them a breathing space:
We were not concerned about the runs. We didn’t look at 566 runs at all, we just bowled as if we had only 350 runs. Because we wanted to get them out as early as possible, that would make things better for us in the second innings. Because the longer they bat, the later it will be for us. And in the second innings, it would be tough to get 10 wickets then. So at the start of the match we were thinking of getting them out today so we can get them out again in the next two days.