Manning India’s pace attack alone for nearly the entire first day’s play, fast bowler Umesh Yadav, displayed a sterling performance on a banal surface at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Uppal.
Debutant Shardul Thakur left the field after suffering a strain in his groin while bowling only his second over in Test cricket. Umesh, led the fast bowling all by himself taking three important wickets at three different junctures of the opening day.
The Vidharbha pacer continued to bowl with a lot of rigor and was rewarded with his third wicket in his 22nd over of the day, this time with the second new-ball. Umesh broke Windies’ first hundred-run stand in this series, getting the only wicket of the session with Jason Holder faltering just before close of play.
Umesh brought back India into the game on three different occasions and for all we know he might have his say early on the second day too.
“We have a system where we rotate the bowlers so that they remain fresh and Umesh is a part of that (policy). We are extremely confident about what Umesh can bring to the table,” said bowling coach Bharat Arun a couple of days ago when he also mentioned how ‘unfortune. Umesh was in terms of not getting enough opportunities to play in England and South Africa.
Out of the 18 matches that India have played since August 2016, Umesh has played a part in 17. Second in line Mohammed Shami, has played around half the number of Tests (nine), while Ishant Sharma has played eight. Bhuvneshwar Kumar took part in five and Jasprit Bumrah is yet to play a Test in India.
India could have tried out Umesh in dead rubbers that India played in South Africa and England, if the rotation policy is truly their credo, and that would have given him the chance to showcase his quality and the management an opportunity to assess him. Even if he is left out, the fast bowler must be managed better and handled with care.
Perennial workhorse Umesh hasn’t enjoyed the luxury of bowling in more conducive conditions than some of his colleagues have. However, he has been India’s go-to bowler when it comes to the flat Indian decks that barely provide for some assistance.
With the Australian pitches also being considerably flat in recent times, Umesh is more than prepared to bowl in the tour.
