Ireland Vs India, 2018: I'm Very Happy With My Performance, Says Umesh Yadav

One of the stories of this year’s Indian Premier League (IPL) was Umesh Yadav’s resurgence in the white-ball cricket. While the India pacer is an indispensable part of the Test team, the same cannot be said about the limited-overs format. The fact that his last and only Twenty20 International appearance came way back in 2012 which pretty much proves that.

On the other hand, his last One-day International appearance came last year.

However, the speedster Yadav was included in the T20 and ODI teams respectively for the tour of Ireland and England following his sensational performances, this season.

On lesser friendly Indian wickets, the pacer had wreaked havoc with his sheer pace and bounce and as the reward, he is returning to the Indian T20 team after a prolonged gap of six-long years.

Umesh finished IPL 2018 with 20 wickets in 14 games while representing Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). His impressive average (20.9) and economy rate (7.86) too showed that he had grown as a T20 bowler.

On Friday (June 29), he made his comeback to the playing eleven during the second T20I against Ireland and made an immediate impact.

In his very first over, he dismissed the dangerous Paul Stirling to all but end Ireland’s slim hopes of chasing down 214. He went on to finish the game with two wickets for 19 runs.

Speaking after the game, Umesh Yadav expressed his delight over his comeback into the T2oI team.

“This is my comeback after five years and I’m very happy with my performance. I enjoyed my game, and kept trying to do whatever I did in the IPL. In the future too I’ll just keep doing whatever I’m currently doing” he said.

The pacer further said that getting a chance in India’s settled bowling line-up is tough. He also spoke on the team’s mindset.

“The team is well balanced because of the likes of Bhuvi, Bumrah, and even Shami. It’s very difficult to get a chance. But the management is trying to give an opportunity to every fast bowler. I was just waiting for my turn. I was thinking only about the process and giving my 100%. If I keep giving performances like this then it’s a headache for the selection commission, they will see whatever is happening,” Umesh said.

“Whatever we learnt from the IPL, we’re tying to repeat the same thing, and bowl with same plans – weather plan A or plan B. You can’t always go with just one plan. On a flat track, if a plan is not working then definitely we’ll change the plan. We’re going with an aggressive mindset, and want to play good cricket and focus on that. Everyone knows their jobs,” he added.

Coming to the game, India thrashed Ireland by 143 runs to win the series 2-0. Asked to bat first, India scored 213 for four. In reply, Ireland were all out for just 70.