Just two seasons after playing professional cricket, Umesh Yadav was bowling against the likes of VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid in the Duleep Trophy. Umesh, the son of a coal miner, wanted to join the police or armed services. After exhausting every resource, at the age of 19, Umesh turned to cricket to make amends meet. Umesh represents Vidarbha side in Ranji Trophy.
In his debut season, he picked 20 wickets for Vidarbha in four games and his first big breakthrough came in 2010 after he was picked by Delhi Daredevils, now renamed as Delhi Capitals, for the Indian Premier League (IPL).
In the same year, he earned his Test call-up and was named Praveen Kumar’s replacement for the 2010 T20 World Cup. Since then, he has added several feathers to his cap and has still a long way to go in his career.
Today as he celebrates his 34th birthday; here we take a look at his top five performances:
6/88 and 4/45 vs West Indies in Hyderabad (2018)
Umesh’s best bowling performance in a Test innings came in 2018 in Hyderabad during the second test against West Indies. In the first innings of the match, he picked six wickets while giving away 88 runs to bundle out West Indies for 311 runs.
In the second innings of the match, he again returned to pick four wickets while conceding 45 runs to take the player of the match honour home.
3/29 and 5/53 vs Bangladesh in Kolkata (2019)
Despite playing just a bunch of day/night Test matches for India, Umesh’s one of the best performances in the longest format of the game has come in this match.
In the country’s first-ever pink-ball Test match, Umesh returned with the figures of 3/29 and 5/53 as India defeated Bangladesh by an innings and 46 runs.
4/31 vs Bangladesh in Melbourne (2015)
Umesh recorded his best bowling figure in ODIs during the second quarterfinal of the 2015 ICC Men’s World Cup, which was played between India and Bangladesh in Melbourne.
He picked four wickets while conceding 31 runs in nine overs as India defeated Bangladesh by 109 runs.
4/53 vs Sri Lanka in Hyderabad (2014)
Umesh picked four wickets while giving away 53 runs against Sri Lanka in the third ODI match of five-match as India defeated the island nation by six wickets.
4/71 vs Australia in Bengaluru (2017)
Umesh was the pick of the bowler for India during Bengaluru ODI in 2017. He picked four out of five wickets as Australia lose in that match while giving away 71 runs. However, his efforts went in vain as Australia defeated India by 21 runs.
Get all the IPL news and Cricket Score here