Published: Jun 11, 2015, 01:19 PM (IST)
Edited: Jun 11, 2015, 01:25 PM (IST)
Indian pacer Umesh Yadav, who has been applauded by cricketing legends like Andy Roberts and Glenn McGrath, spoke about how current India Test skipper Virat Kohli advises the bowlers and how different he is from MS Dhoni.
“I am very much comfortable with Virat. He always asks me about my plan and if that doesn’t work he tells his plans. He always advises us to bring aggression in our bowling. Aggression doesn’t mean bowling only fast. It’s about bowling in the right areas. He tells everyone needs to show fighting spirit on the ground. If our opponents are going after one particular player, we all should stand by him. It’s the team first.” MS Dhoni only Indian to list Forbes’ 100 highest-paid athletes in the world
On comparison with Dhoni, Yadav said, “Both are different characters. Dhoni Bhai’s contribution to Indian cricket is immense. He has given youngsters good opportunities to establish themselves. Virat too thinks on same the line. He always stands by his teammates. While calmness works for Dhoni Bhai, aggression works for Virat. But again people misunderstand his aggression. I have always seen controlled aggression in Virat. He is very thinking cricketer. Both have different approach to deal with the situation.” Shikhar Dhawan & Murali Vijay 6th Indian opening pair to score more than 1,000 runs in Test cricket
Yadav, who is currently playing the first Test between India and Bangladesh at Fatullah, spoke about how former Pakistan speedster helping him out.
“It was during West Indies and Sri Lanka One-day series last year when he was here as a commentator. He is very jolly person and I enjoyed the conversation. We talked about the pace. Again it was more of a mental thing. He said ‘when you can bowl so fast, it’s the batsmen who should be scared and not you,” Yadav was quoted as saying by Times of India. Rahul Dravid: I am not thinking about India head coach role
Yadav has been in and out of the team for over the last few years. However, he seem to have finally cemented his place in the side.
“I didn’t doubt my abilities but yes I was disappointed not to be part of the playing eleven on consistent basis. I was thinking constantly what I was doing wrong. However, that period gave me chance to introspect my game. I wasn’t too worried about the competition. It’s always good to have healthy competition. It motivates me to do well. There was a brief period when I thought whether I would be back again in the team but I quickly erased it out of my mind. Before Champions Trophy I wasn’t worried about these things but when I did well in England and in the tri-series in West Indies, I expected too much from myself that I can do even better than this.” Ravi Shastri appointed as India coach; becomes highest paid in the cricket world: Reports
Speaking about his injury problems, the pacer said, “Every fast bowler gets injured. I suffered two major injuries—one in 2009 during IPL in South Africa and the other after first Test in England in 2012. However, a lot was made about my fitness. I never had any fitness issues. There’s difference between injuries and fitness. I have always worked hard on my fitness. I remember during a flight I met Navjot Singh Sidhu who asked me whether I am fit to play. Sidhu Paaji said that he keeps hearing from people that I wasn’t fit enough and was bowling badly. I heard this from others too.. that I wasn’t fit, which was strange.”
“During the 2013 West Indies tour I was not injured, I was rested at that time. Then, I didn’t have a good outing in Challenger series as I was short of match practice. I was playing the tournament straight away as rains in Nagpur hampered my preparations. The two Challenger matches hurt me a lot. That period was one of the lows of my life. My wife Tanya and my friend Mithun supported me a lot. Tanya pushed me to work harder at times when I didn’t feel like training. She made sure I never missed training. I was also in touch with Subroto Bannerjee who always motivated me.”
It was Yadav’s dream to play Tests in England. However, he was left out when India travelled to England last year.
“Obviously, nobody likes sitting at home watching teammates play on TV. I was preparing very hard for that tour and was disappointed not to be part of the team but I took that in my strides. When I got the opportunity in the One-dayers in England, I was keen to do well. Thankfully, Bharat Arun joined the team that time. He made slight changes in my run-up. I felt better with those changes and my run-up was smoother and more balanced. I was enjoying running in; putting less effort than before and felt more in control. I got my rhythm back and that reflected in my bowling during West Indies and Sri Lanka One-day series. I was bowling fast with lot more control and more often than not, I was bowling in the right areas.”
Yadav spoke about Bharat Arun’s influence on his performance. “He was India ‘A’ coach when I started my career so he knew my strengths and weaknesses. He had already studied my bowling before coming to England. Besides, Wasim Bhai’s presence in Kolkata Knight Riders‘ camp helped me a lot. He is bundle of knowledge. He didn’t make any changes in my bowling but worked on mental aspects. He kept reminding me about my pace. He asked me to just focus on my bowling not to worry about what others were saying about me.”
Speaking about India’s performance in Australia, Yadav said, “If you have watched the series, even the likes of Mitchell Johnson went for many runs. Yes, we could’ve bowled bit better but it’s not that we always bowled badly. We bowled some good spells too but we couldn’t maintain the consistent pressure and that’s what we need to work on as a bowling unit. We need to learn the art of taking 20 wickets, especially overseas. I am working on few areas to improve myself.”
Yadav spoke about his relationship with Varun Aaron off the field, stating that both the pacers needed to work on wickets.
“I think our batsmen enjoyed a lot (laughs) as they are the ones who are mostly at the receiving end. It felt good. We are good friends off the field. We have bowled in tandem together against West Indies in 2011 but in One-dayers. When two bowlers with that pace bowl in tandem, there’s no respite for batsmen. But we both need to work on wickets. There’s always competition between us that who bowls fast.”
Yadav finished as the highest wicket-taker for India in ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. “No, I never thought about it. But I always wanted to contribute to the team’s cause. That was the only thing in my mind. I knew the conditions as I had toured Australia before. I had a decent 2012 tour, which was my first major tour. When I visited there last year, I again took a five-wicket haul. I feel I bowled decently during Test series. So, I was confident about my bowling. I felt in good rhythm in the first match against Pakistan and then continued from there. Besides, we were doing well as a unit so that helped too. Before the tournament, there was a lot of talk about fast bowlers being India’s weak link but we were always confident about our abilities.”
“We play for each other; we enjoy each other’s success and support each other. We stand by each other which you must have seen during the Australia tour. Whatever we achieved in the World Cup is a past now. It’s a new beginning and we need to win more matches, especially overseas. Ultimately, you need 20 wickets to win the matches,” Yadav concluded.
