'I think it was a standout performance in his (Umesh Yadav) career and something that he can build on. Four Tests in Australia can be brutal because the (Kookaburra) ball does not do much like in England. Umesh is right up there to be featuring in Australia,' Virat Kohli said
Hyderabad: After featuring in just one of the five Tests in England, India fast bowler Umesh Yadav has bounced back. He now looks a certainty for the four-Test series in Australia in December with the paceman getting the backing of his captain Virat Kohli.
Umesh came in for high praise from Kohli as he achieved his career-best Test figures in Hyderabad against the West Indies. The hosts defeated the Caribbean side by 10 wickets on Sunday to wrap up the two-match rubber 2-0.
The 30-year-old won the Man-of-the-match award for his efforts of 6/88 and 4/45 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium.
“I think it was a standout performance in his career and something that he can build on. Four Tests in Australia can be brutal because the (Kookaburra) ball does not do much like in England. So you have to come in and run in all day and hit the right area with pace. But I think from that point of view, Umesh is right up there to be featuring in Australia,” Kohli said after the match.
“Because he (Umesh) has got the pace, he has got the fitness levels to run in all day, picks up wickets at crucial times and he gets good bounce as well, so it's a great headache to have. Obviously, all four guys, when they are touching 140 and when they are taking wickets for you, it is obviously something that any captain would like to have,” he added.
Umesh, who made his Test debut in November 2011 against the West Indies in Delhi, has played 40 matches so far with 117 wickets (average 32.85). He is not a regular in the five-day format as India are blessed with fast bowling riches.
When India travel abroad, Umesh is not often in the first-choice pacemen list. Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah are picked. Same happened in the recent trip to England where Umesh got to play the first Test but missed out on the next four.
Now, at home, Umesh has excelled, becoming the first Indian fast bowler since Javagal Srinath in 1999 to take six wickets or more in an innings.
So far, in his Test career, Umesh has played 24 matches (48 innings) at home with 73 wickets at an average of 27.97. It was his maiden five-wicket haul in India when he rattled the Windies with his pace.
In the 2016 season to till date, in home conditions, he has picked up 50 victims from 17 games (34 innings), at an average of 29.86.
How is Umesh’s record in Australia? Has he impressed in previous tours? Here are what the numbers say.
In seven Tests (12 innings) Down Under between 2011 and 2015, Umesh took 25 wickets at an average of 43.96 with one five-wicket haul. If he gets picked this time, he can improve his numbers. As of now, they are not impressive.
In overseas Tests, he has played 16 matches with 44 wickets at 40.95 average. His best effort in an innings came in Australia – 5/93 in Perth, 2012.
Though the Vidarbha paceman has got the support of Kohli for Australia Tests, it remains to be seen whether he gets the nod when India play the first Test in Adelaide from December 6.
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