Pace bowler Umesh Yadav has dramatically made another comeback into the T20I format when he was drafted into the Indian team in place of Mohammed Shami for the three-match T20 series against Australia. Shami was ruled out after he tested positive for COVID-19. Incidentally, Umesh played his last T20I in 2019 against Australia. Just before this series, Moneycontrol caught up with the pacer in London. Here are the edited excerpts:
I watched you closely while you were practising in the nets before the Edgbaston Test in July. However, you didn't find a place in the playing 11. How do you keep yourself motivated?
Cricket is my passion, my first love. So, I don't have to make up my mind to play cricket. It triggers me naturally when a match is on. So, this thing is since childhood. And, mentally you have to be very positive because you know that sometimes you can play, sometimes you cannot play … those situations will come in life. So you cannot say that you will be in the game every time.
Just be positive, keep thinking and do well. In the game, as in life, you can get a chance anytime. As a fast bowler, I keep myself fit, mentally, too. I take care of how game awareness should be. The most important thing is to be positive. You can do only one thing — give your 100 percent.
As a bowler, I work on my fitness because it doesn't just give me a chance to play cricket but it keeps me fit and also gives a good mind set. So, when I keep myself physically fit, other things will follow.
Everyone knows Umesh in red ball cricket. You have proved yourself in whatever opportunity you got but one question always arises: does Umesh do well in white ball cricket? In 2022, this turnaround happened with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). How did it happen?
The last time I played white ball cricket was in 2020 — for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). After that, I didn't play white ball cricket at all. I was playing in nets, I was bowling well. After that, I didn't get any chance. ... so, no one came to know what Umesh did in the nets. When I came here to Kolkata, all the things I had worked hard upon … they were seen by everyone. Then people came to know that Umesh wasn't just eating rotis or sitting for two years, he was working on his bowling.
At that time, I didn't get matches but I knew what to do and I made myself more competitive because of the kind of cricket that is going on. Young boys are coming in, and if you want to compete, you have to come to that level. I worked very hard and all the hard work came in handy when Kolkata gave me a chance. I think all the hard work paid off.
So, this is the mind set you have seen in what you were doing in Indian Premier League (IPL) ...going for wickets. Taking wickets regardless of runs... is this the mind set by Kolkata coach Brendon McCullum or someone else and developed by interacting with you?
Yes, Brendon McCullum was there. The other coach was Bharat Arun who knows me very well. They gave me freedom and said, ‘Umesh you give 40 runs in 4 overs but we need wickets in power play. We don't want 10 runs or 7 runs from your two overs, we want wickets’. That was the message from KKR. I said ‘don’t worry. If you have put your trust in me, I will try my best’ and that paid off.
They left me open in the jungle, and said: ‘Do whatever you want to do’...and whatever I thought happened at that time, the ball was swinging and I was just going for the wicket, going for the kill ... because if we get wickets in power play, there will be pressure on the opposition team. At first, that was their thinking but later I also got the same thinking.
Was there ever a thought somewhere in you that IPL performance is considered to be more important than domestic matches? So, did you think that what I can do for Kolkata in white ball cricket, I can do that for India as well?
Yes, it was very important for me to prove myself as well because I can also do what other people are doing... I am not saying that someone is lesser than anyone. I am very fit and I am happy with my bowling. So, I am waiting for my chance now and whenever I get a chance, I will do well for my team India.
It is always seen that a player becomes a star but there has been no change in you. You are the same boy from Vidarbha who started playing cricket. Normally, when someone plays for India, stardom comes to him. Do you think that by not creating such a stardom, people do not talk much to you? Or have you kept a low profile too much?
Everyone has his own nature, my nature is like this. My mind set is like this and you cannot change everyone's mind set. Because the team is managed, there are selectors who manage all the things, like when to give a chance to whom. So, my only job as a bowler is to keep myself fit, bowl well and contribute to the country's victory. On my lifestyle part, I try to be as simple as I can.
The Indian team we are seeing right now... Rohit Sharma is the captain, Rahul Dravid has come. What changes do you feel in the team now?
Very good. The team management is trying to give the maximum number of games to the boys to play. So, I think everything is very good.
What are your expectations from yourself in all three formats at the stage you are at right now?
I have been stamped as a Test bowler and its fine, but I want to play in all types of formats in the number of years I have left.
Don't you find it strange that you get a chance to play for India only as a Test specialist?
All these things keep happening, you can't do anything about it. If you are a player, you just have to continue to perform well, leave the rest to the management, it's their job. So, the thing is I am having fun playing Test... And will try to do better if I get a chance in white ball cricket and will try to show a good game for my country in every format.
So, you have a dream that you played in the 2015 ODI World Cup and were very successful. You might want to see yourself in the Indian squad again in the T20 World Cup in Australia?
Maybe, and why not? Everyone has a dream to play in the world cup. And if I get a chance, I am completely ready for that. I have done well in Australia, I am ready and if I get a chance, I will definitely try to perform well and do something for my country which will always be remembered. I dream of playing in the World Cup and why not? Yeh Dil Maange More.