IPL 2018: I am Bowling Whatever I Was Thinking and it Has Been Going Well - Umesh Yadav

When it comes to Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), there is no denying the batsmen usually hog all the limelight.

With the likes of Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers in the team, it becomes quite tight for another player to carve his identity. However, the ongoing season has seen a welcome change. Umesh Yadav is fast turning out to be one of the leading men of the team with his sheer brilliance with the ball this term.

On lesser friendly Indian wickets, the pacer has wreaked havoc with his pace and bounce and the reward – return to the Indian T20 team after six long years.

On Monday, Umesh once again proved his worth in gold against Kings XI Punjab at Indore’s Holkar Cricket Stadium. On a pitch where more than 450 runs got registered a couple of days ago, Royal Challengers Bangalore dismissed the hosts for a paltry 88.

And one of the architect of Kings XI’s downfall was Umesh. Asked to bat first, the Kings XI were off to a decent start with an in-form duo of KL Rahul and Chris Gayle adding 36 runs. However, Umesh sent them back inside an over to reduce the hosts to 41 for two.

The Ravichandran Ashwin-led side never recovered from those two big setbacks and was out for a below-par total. Towards the end, the India pacer dismissed Andrew Tye for a duck to finish with impressive figures of three for 23 off his four overs.

Speaking after the game, Umesh said he is bowling with a lot of freedom, and it is paying off.

“I am bowling whatever I was thinking, and it has been going well till now. Hoping to carry this form forward. (On relying on his pace) I was backing myself to bowl whatever I have, pace with good line and length to cramp the batsman. I feel that if I don’t do that, I’m lacking in confidence,” he said.

“(On his partnership with Southee) We just keep discussing how to use the new ball well because if we can take early wickets, it will ease the pressure off the other bowlers. We also chat a lot about the death overs,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Royal Challengers chased down the total inside nine overs without losing a single wicket. Virat Kohli scored 48 not out while Parthiv Patel remained unbeaten on 40.