Umesh Yadav's coming of age is advantage India

Umesh Yadav is one of those rare Indian breeds who possess raw pace

 A bowler running with an aggressive intent, taking long strides and having that extra notch of pace in his deliveries is a treat to the eyes. More than being a joy for the fans, such a bowler is an asset for the team. He can easily rub off his aggression on his teammates, thus increasing their tempo and involvement in the game.

Umesh Yadav, lately, has been playing that role perfectly for the Men in Blue. He has clocked 140+ kmph regularly which makes him a genuine pacer and moreover, he has provided crucial breakthroughs at critical junctures in the game.

The 29-year-old had earlier been an irregular for Team India but 2016 has been a different story for him. He played a lot more matches this year and had an enjoyable and memorable series against England to cap it all off.

The Vidarbha fast bowler always had the credentials of being a genuine pace bowler but has had some problems. Yadav was up on the pace always but lacked control and bowled some wayward deliveries when putting in the extra effort. In his favour, any fast bowler clocking 140+ regularly can sometimes get away from the basics and lose his control.

Yadav it seems, has learned from his past mistakes and has given paramount importance to bowling in the right areas. His control of line and length without compromising on his pace has been the key to his success this year.

What has changed for Umesh Yadav

Umesh Yadav dismissed Guptill regularly when the Kiwis came to India

The fast bowler understands that a complete bowler should have a lot more composure. Pitches outside the subcontinent can trick the bowler into trying to ball as fast as he can. But the reaps that a bowler gets still depends on the canny variations that he has.

The reverse swing is one such trade and Yadav seems to have mastered that. He provided late breakthroughs in the day with the old cherry swinging the other way. Reverse swing at Umesh’s raw pace makes it an even more lethal weapon.

Another area where a definite improvement was clearly visible is when it comes to bowling short balls. Umesh did not shy away from bowling head high bouncers at batsmen who do not have a very good reputation when it comes to short balls. His deliberate plan of deploying 2-3 fielders in the deep and bowling bouncers to Moeen Ali was enticing to watch for Indian cricket fans who are not used to see that sort of stuff generally.

Coming to limited overs cricket, yorker is another lethal weapon that he has added to his armour. The yorker can also be used in a deadly combination with bouncer to dislodge a batsman in red ball cricket and the 29-year-old has been trying and working hard to master the delivery. 

Sometimes, playing good cricket does not necessarily yields results in your favour. You have to persist and keep looking for success. The Vidarbha fast bowler deals with such trying circumstances by subtle changes in his wrist position while delivering the ball which changes the angle at which the ball comes to the batsmen, therefore taking them by surprise.

Yadav enjoys learning under the Indian coaching staff comprising of Anil Kumble and Sanjay Bangar and talking to them, so much so that he even does not feel the need for a separate bowling coach. A coach who understands bowlers and talks to them when they are not doing well is what one needs.

More than the talks, it is his performance on the field that tells of Umesh Yadav enjoying his bowling more than ever and is eager to take more wickets for Team India.

When New Zealand visited India, the NZ opener Martin Guptill was repeatedly taken out of the equation very early in the match by the Indian. The fast bowler took many quality wickets against England as well, the standout being the dismissal of Jonny Bairstow where he did the batsman with extra pace.

He is also one of the better fielders in the team, contributing with some good catches and not letting the 2s being converted into 3s in the outfield.

Challenges ahead for Umesh Yadav

Umesh Yadav is one of those rare Indian breeds who possess raw pace

Fitness has been an issue for Umesh Yadav always. He has been more improved on that aspect this year with him being available for almost all the matches. Another problem Umesh has is that he is very good but in spurts. He still lacks the consistency of bowling accurate line and lengths for longer periods of time. 

He has the pace to make the batsman hop around looking for that extra second to adjust to his pace and he has shown immense improvement in the recent times as well. He has been more lethal and effective than ever before.