Umesh Yadav has been widely recognised as one of the most talented and quickest bowlers that India has seen in this generation. Since his Test debut in 2011, the Vidarbha cricketer has taken 100 wickets on Indian soil – an impressive feat. Despite this, he has often been forced to sit on the sidelines due to competition from Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, and Ishant Sharma. On the ‘Rise of New India’ show with Cricbuzz, the ex-cricketer remembered having to come up with reasons for not selecting Umesh, although he deserved to be picked.
“There are many instances when Umesh was disappointed not being part of the team, especially after doing very well. But I had a lot of explaining to do because he would come up to me and say, ‘Why have you dropped me? What wrong did I do?’
“It was a very tough call because there are only that many fast bowlers you could play in terms of what they had done and their form, especially when Shami, Bumrah and Ishant were the fast bowlers with Hardik Pandya to chip in as the fourth fast bowler back when he was playing Test cricket. Umesh Yadav was bowling beautifully but was consistently being dropped.”
“He was a perfect team man that you would want to have in your side”, – stated Bharat Arun
Arun admitted that, although Umesh sometimes went days without interacting with him, eventually, Arun knew that Umesh would accept his decision. Arun commented, “Sometimes he would get so angry that he would not speak to me for a day, but then he would come to me and say I understand. Even when I speak to him, I say, ‘If you are not angry, there is something wrong with you. If it doesn’t happen, you are accepting things meekly.’
“Umesh was magnificent. He was a perfect team man that you would want to have in your side.”