Ishant's comeback a big positive for us, says Umesh Yadav

Umesh Yadav feels that bowling alongside Ishant Sharma has helped him after the Indian bowlers struggled to get wickets on a batting track at Chennai in the fifth Test.

"I think he is a very senior bowler. He has a lot of experience. Whenever we are thinking about the wickets or thinking how to get wickets on these kind of tracks so Ishant and I keep talking to him, he has a lot of experience playing 70-plus Test matches," Umesh told PTI on Saturday.

"I think it is a very positive sign. He just came back and he's bowling very easily. It just helps a lot, whenever your senior bowler is bowling with you. You get that confidence. And he can gauge the nature of the pitch very quickly, what we have to do on this wicket. If he bowls just two balls, then he will know if there will be reverse on this wicket," he added.

Indian bowlers were unable to show any impact after removing three important wickets in the first session on day 2 and Umesh felt that there was no help for the bowlers on the pitch.

"I think it is very difficult to bowl on this track because ball is not turning that much. It is a little bit different. They got some quick runs but I think the ball is not turning a lot. That is the problem, we could not get wickets and lost momentum," he said.

The Vidarbha bowler also felt that the result of the match will depend on the amount of turn the track can generate in the next three days.

"There are three more days. Let's see how the wicket behaves. If it turns after the third day, I think there will still be some interest left in the game."

After testing centurion Moeen Ali with few short balls, Umesh was finally able to get the wicket of the left-hander and he explained that it was a part of the plan to bowl those bouncers.

"This plan is already there. Yesterday, the fast bowlers didn't bowl that much. Today, we made a plan that we will bowl short to Moeen and make sure he plays all the balls. We wanted to bowl to his left shoulder and after that we got the momentum as he tried to pull some balls," Umesh said.

Whenasked if India needs a separate bowling coach, the pacer replied, "Actually, I think at this stage it doesn't matter that much but still we need coaches, who can help us during the bad times or bad sessions. I think Anil Bhai and Sanjay Bangar are there. They know about bowling.”

He added: “Sanjay Bangar was a medium-pacer, he bowled a lot in his time. He gives idea on how to bowl on these type of wickets as he has played a lot of first-class matches. Whenever we are not doing well, we just talk to Anil bhai or Sanjay bhai, they can help us any time or in any situation."