I'm always learning and evolving while sitting outside, reveals Umesh Yadav

The troika of Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav have moulded themselves to form a deadly pace attack that was never-before-seen across eras in Indian cricket. Umesh Yadav, a fulcrum of Indian home dominance thanks to his ability to generate reverse swing better than many, has done quite well to keep him relevant in Indian cricket. A dash of bad luck and few under performances along with the emergence of Jasprit Bumrah has meant that he is often out of the playing XI on overseas tours, but as Yadav himself admitted, it hasn't impacted the confidence.

"When we are travelling and I don't get a game, it all comes down to the mindset. If I don't have control over my thought process, then it will start affecting my game. When you don't get a game, you tend to feel a bit sad. I know the bowlers who are playing are also getting 20 wickets. So I need to wait for my chances. I have to keep thinking that when I get my chance, I'll grab it. I can't be negative and be resigned to my fate. I try to pick up things while sitting outside and implement that in the nets," Umesh told Times of India.

"I just ensure that I spend more time with people who are positive. That helps me to be in a good space. I have a routine and I follow that. I make sure I am not idle for long. Because when you sit idle, all kinds of negative things cross your mind. I work out what things I need to do after interacting with my friends. I am a light-hearted guy. I like to be around positive people who help me keep going at any level of cricket - domestic, India A or IPL. I try to be in the zone."

The evolution of India's pace-bowling unit has become a much-talked-about topic lately, with the team having an embarrassment of riches. While the success of the current crop of bowlers have a major role to play, the cultural shift has also been a major reason - with India moving away from producing rank turners in home Test games. 

"It feels nice when people talk about fast bowlers. People earlier talked about spinners when we played at home. They assumed the pitch would start taking turn early. Fast bowlers usually bowled with the new ball and were brought back when there was reverse swing on offer," the pacer added.

"Our job was to roughen up the ball for the spinners. Spinners even started with the new ball. It is satisfying to know that now we are looked at as bowlers who could bowl all day. When this crop of fast bowlers came together, all five of us decided we are not here to just rough up the ball for spinners. We started thinking wickets. This ensured we got the new ball."