India vs West Indies | Knew I had to make up for Shardul’s quota of overs, says Umesh Yadav
Umesh Yadav stepped up in the absence of Shardul Thakur, who suffered an untimely injury on day one of the second Test, and bowled a total of 23 overs to support the three spinners in the team. Yadav picked up three wickets and bowled two maidens with an economy rate of 3.61 on Friday.
Team India kicked off the second and final Test match against West Indies in the ongoing series on Friday with an aim to repeat their exploits from the first game once more. But Virat Kohli & Co. suffered their first setback in the fourth over itself after Shardul Thakur, who bowled just 10 balls, had to leave the pitch due to injury.
Kohli was left in a dilemma as he was left with just one fast-bowler - Umesh Yadav - on the pitch. But Yadav, who has not featured much for India this year and played just three Test’s so far, stepped up in Thakur’s absence and led the Indian team with passion. The pacer ended the day with figures 3/83 from 23 overs having claimed the wickets of Shai Hope, Windies captain Jason Holder and wicketkeeper-batsman Shane Dowrich.
"I think with Shardul around, the spinners could have got some assistance. If I managed to pick up three, a wicket or two from his side could've reduced the burden on the spinners. That said, you can't really do much in a situation like this.
"I knew I had to make up for his quota of overs and that's what I did. I tried to remain focused and did my job," Yadav said during the
Friday’s pitch had little to offer in terms of pace and bounce yet Yadav bowled with bravery and remained positive throughout the day’s play. The RCB pacer also cited this as a reason for India’s struggle to dismiss the lower-order Caribbean batsmen.
"It was a very flat wicket with no swing or reverse swing for that matter. You can't contain the batsmen on a pitch like this, they'll keep taking the odd ones and twos. So I was bowling with the aim of picking wickets.
"When you are bowling on a pitch like this, where there is very little scope to experiment, you start getting predictable. The batsmen know the ball isn't quite taking off from the pitch, so it's much easier for them to negotiate the attack. The SG ball, I believe, gets old after 20 overs. The softness of the ball, too, plays its part,” he added.
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