Veteran pacer Umesh Yadav has returned to the Indian T20I set-up as he replaced Mohammed Shami for the upcoming series against Australia. Umesh, who made his international debut in 2010 didn’t get many opportunities in the shortest format of the game. He has played just 7 T20Is so far in his career and took 9 wickets. However, he has a good record when it comes the overall T20 record with 166 scalps in 163 matches.
The veteran pacer had a memorable IPL 2022 with Kolkata Knight Riders where he claimed 16 wickets in 12 matches at an economy rate of 7.06. He did extremely well with the new ball but the selectors took time to recall him to the T20I team.
Umesh, who last played a T20I match in February 2019, is elated to get a chance again to represent India in the shortest format as he feels he is quite fit for his age and has been bowling well in recent times.
“I like to think that I am pretty fit for someone my age and I am bowling well too. It feels good to be selected for the country, just looking forward to contributing whenever I get the chance,” Umesh said in an interview with journalist Vimal Kumar.
Umesh recently represented Middlesex in English county cricket where he got injured while playing the Royal London ODI match after which he flew back to India. He picked up 16 wickets in 7 List A games.
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The 34-year-old pacer said that he got lucky with the Middlesex offer as it allowed him to play competitive cricket when not much cricket was happening in India.
“You could say that I was lucky, because not many matches were happening in India because of the rain, so got lucky with the Middlesex offer. I knew that only practicing and not playing any matches won’t amount to anything. When you play, your body remains in that environment, your muscles stay loose and you are more agile. I was enjoying my county stint, the weather in England is good,” he added.
Talking about his IPL 2022 stint with KKR, Umesh said that when he did with the ball last season, people understood that he worked on his bowling in the off-season.
“I did not play any white-ball cricket after playing for RCB in IPL 2020. I was doing well, practicing well, but I did not get the chance. No one was aware of how I was doing in the nets. Everyone got to see how well I was doing when I got a chance with KKR in IPL 2022. People got to understand that I was not just relaxing in the off-season,” Umesh said.
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