Umesh Yadav has been, more or less, a regular in the Indian 11 since the home series against South Africa late 2015, having struck nice tandem with Mohammad Shami and Ishant Sharma.

While acknowledging that spinners have been main performers with the ball, head coach Anil Kumble hailed Umesh for the way he has come up in the last couple of years.

“We have certainly seen what Umesh is capable of,” said Kumble. “He doesn’t have the kind of wickets that you would expect, but the way he has bowled he has given us those breakthroughs. He may not have a five-wicket haul but every time he has bowled, he looked like he would pick up a five-for. And that’s the kind of maturity and improvement Umesh has shown. It’s a credit to him that whichever spell he comes to bowl, he picks up those breakthroughs,” he offered.

Kumble was also happy with the way Ravindra Jadeja has complemented his senior spin partner Ravichandran Ashwin. “Yes, the chunk of the wickets has gone to the spinners, and I am glad that Ashwin will always be spoken about but I am really glad that Jadeja has come up and done what he is capable of. I am really glad that both of them currently are on top of the ICC rankings.”

The former India captain hoped M S Dhoni, Jharkhand’s favourite cricketing son, would visit the stadium which is set to host its first ever Test match. “We miss everyone but in Ranchi without MS, for the people of Ranchi it will be different,” Kumble noted on the absence of Dhoni in his home match. “I hope MS will come sometime during the Test. I know he is away playing the Vijay Hazare knockouts for Jharkhand but we hope that at some stage during the five days of the Test, he will come here. It will definitely be different. But the Indian team is playing, so I am hopeful that the people of Ranchi and Jharkhand will come and support Test match cricket because it is the first Test here and it is a historical moment.”
DH News Service

Kumble praise for Umesh