“Satisfying feeling if stumps are cartwheeling back" - Umesh Yadav rejoices 3-wicket spell vs Australia
India speedster Umesh Yadav expressed joy over scalping three Australian wickets on a rank turner in Indore. However, another shoddy batting display by the hosts moved the visitors close to a rare Test win on Indian soil.
Umesh, who lost his father on February 23, took three quick wickets to trigger a dramatic collapse in Australia’s first innings. He first trapped the well-set Cameron Green lbw, but smashing the stumps of Mitchell Starc and Todd Murphy was what he enjoyed more.
“It is very satisfying to get such wickets, that too bowled, on such spinning tracks,” Umesh Yadav told reporters at the end of Day 2.
“It is a very different feeling for a fast bowler, especially knowing that the pitches don’t have pace and bounce. If you are hitting the off and the stumps are cartwheeling back, it is a very positive feeling.”
With the ball more than 70 overs old and Australia threatening to take a big lead, skipper Rohit Sharma handed the ball to Umesh to make use of reverse swing. The 35-year-old didn't disappoint, scalping three wickets in as many overs.
The dismissal of Starc also made him only the fifth Indian pacer to reach 100 Test wickets at home.
ICYMI - 𝟭𝟬𝟬𝘁𝗵 𝗧𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗲𝘁 in India for @y_umesh 💪
What a ball that was from Umesh Yadav as he cleans up Mitchell Starc to grab his 100th Test wicket at home.
#INDvAUS https://t.co/AD0NIUbkGB
Umesh Yadav (three for 12) revealed that he used the scrambled seam since the ball was both seaming and skidding off a length.
“Going by how the wicket was behaving, we felt that the ball was seaming a bit after pitching. So I tried to bowl with a little bit of scrambled seam, so that the ball will at least seam if not swing. The ball was also skidding off a length, so I just tried to hit that length and the off stump,” he remarked.
The wickets of left-handers Starc and Murphy were a thing of beauty. He came around the wicket and angled the ball in, but after hitting the deck, it seamed away just a little to beat the outside edge and hit off stump.
“I was thinking of just bowling wicket to wicket” - Umesh Yadav
While spinners normally call the shots in the subcontinent, Umesh Yadav has consistently delivered and yet slipped under the radar. In home Tests since the start of 2018, the Vidarbha pacer has picked up 43 wickets in nine matches – more than Axar Patel (40 in nine) and Mohammad Shami (36 in 10).
Of the 170.2 overs bowled in this Test so far, only 25 overs have been sent down by the faster bowlers. Umesh Yadav stated that he just aimed at the stumps, leaving the pitch to do the rest. He elaborated:
“As a fast bowler, you know you are rarely going to get good dismissals in India. Because there are mostly turning tracks in the subcontinent. But on this pitch, I was thinking of just bowling wicket to wicket whenever I get a spell.
“And I also wanted to take one or two wickets, because that would help the team. [Mohammed] Siraj and I were also discussing the same thing, to try and take at least one wicket.
“I know one thing: as a fast bowler, I have to hit the deck hard and bowl in the best areas. I have played a lot of Test cricket in the subcontinent, so my mind and body are already used to this kind of wicket.
“I am always positive about any kind of pitch I get. My mindset is just to get a wicket because that’s what my team wants.”
After Umesh Yadav kept the Aussies down to 197 and the lead to 88, the Indian batters faltered once again to be bowled out for a paltry 163. Steve Smith’s men need 76 runs for a remarkable win in conditions most alien to them.