Umesh Yadav made his international debut for Team India in 2010. Recently, the pacer also completed his 10 years in international cricket, where he has had his fair share of ups and downs. The 32-year-old Umesh, who remains as a Test specialist for a brief period for now, recently recalled a time when he thought of leaving the game after being ridiculed by his coach.
Umesh told, “I thought the ball (seasoned ball) looks same, people play with this also. When I entered the ground someone noticed my fast Yorkers and then the secretary gave me the offer to play district cricket for Nagpur. I took 8 wickets and they called me for a summer camp.”
He added, “On the first day of the camp, the coach asked me where were my cricketing shoes. He said that ‘you don’t have shoes you have come here, you guys call anyone, he doesn’t even know about spikes shoes’. I felt really bad and also thought of leaving cricket altogether,” recalled the 32-year-old.
Despite all the hardships, Umesh made an international appearance for the first time in 2010 under the captaincy of Suresh Raina in Zimbabwe. However, his biggest moment came when he got his Test cap in 2011 during the home Test series versus West Indies. He was even part of India’s 2011 tour of Australia and rubbed shoulders with some of the legends of Indian cricket, such as Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Zaheer Khan before their retirements.
