I Was Having A Drink With Ravi Shastri The Other Day And He Told Me That Umesh Yadav Is India's Third-Choice Seamer: Ian Chappell

Former Australian captain-turned commentator Ian Chappell has spilled a few beans as far as Team India’s choice for the third pacer for the upcoming four-match Test series against Australia is concerned.

India has been grappling with fitness issues to their marquee players ahead of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, the biggest of which is the fact that veteran pacer Ishant Sharma has been ruled out of the rubber.

India have plenty of options in the seam-bowling department to choose though. They boast of the likes of another veteran in Umesh Yadav and two domestic performers in the form of Mohammed Siraj and Navdeep Saini.

But, if Ian Chappell is to be believed, the Indian team management has already zeroed in on the experience of Umesh Yadav to partner Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah. Chappell, in a recent interview to Scroll, said that Shastri has revealed the same to him while they were having a drink, a few days ago.

“I was having a drink with Ravi (Shastri) the other day and he told me that probably (Umesh) Yadav will get the nod as the third pacer,” Ian Chappell was quoted as saying in Scroll.

Can Umesh Yadav finally deliver on his 4th trip to Australia?

Umesh Yadav has been in brilliant form in red-ball cricket in the past 24 months but the Vidarbha Express has failed to emulate the same on foreign soil.

This will be Umesh’s fourth stint Down Under and he will be hoping to finally make it count in the absence of Ishant Sharma. Umesh featured in just one Test during India’s triumphant 2018-10 tour. He has already had a good start to the tour, having taken 4 wickets across two innings in the practice match, and he would be looking to improve his numbers in Australia whch currently read- 27 wickets in 14 innings at an average of 45.88.