India fast bowler Umesh Yadav is looking at the World Test Championship final as an opportunity to win a World Cup. He also sounds pretty confident of being in the starting line-up. India will take on New Zealand in the summit clash beginning June 18 in Southampton.
Like a few other Test regulars, Umesh Yadav is also no longer part of India’s white-ball setup. The World Test Championship title is no less than a World Cup to the likes of Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane among others.
“We have worked really hard to get there, and with players like me who are not regulars in white-ball cricket, it is this we consider our World Cup. If I am able to perform well in that match and we end up winning, being world champions will forever be a memory,” Umesh Yadav told ESPNcricinfo.
He further added that the English conditions will help him merit a place in the playing XI.
“The match is in England, where swing and seam are important, so I definitely see myself in the playing XI for that game,” Yadav exclaimed.
Umesh Yadav last played red-ball cricket in the Boxing Day Test at the MCG in which he limped off with a calf muscle injury after bowling just 3.3 overs in Australia’s second innings. He then completed his recovery and made a comeback into the Test squad for the final two home Tests against England. But unfortunately, he had to warm the bench in both games.
“I can mostly pull my body for another two or three years” – Umesh Yadav
Despite playing just 48 Tests, Umesh Yadav has been around for more than a decade now. He sounded confident of pulling through another 2-3 years, while acknowledging that the influx of young, raw talent into India’s pace battery will definitely give him a run for his money.
“I am 33 now and I know that I can mostly pull my body for another two or three years, and there will be some youngsters who will be arriving. I feel this is just healthy, because it ultimately ends up benefitting the team.
“When you have five or six fast bowlers on a tour of four or five Tests, you can play each one of them for two games to help reduce their stress and workload, so it helps that pack [of fast bowlers] play for longer,” Umesh Yadav elaborated.
While Umesh Yadav has flirted with a few injuries, he takes solace from the fact that he didn’t face as many roadblocks as fast bowlers usually do. Hence, he didn’t need to cut down heavily on his pace as well.
“As far as the rest of my career is concerned, thank God that relatively I haven’t had that many injuries. And that is satisfying as a fast bowler, because once a fast bowler starts getting injured, he tends to start struggling, which ultimately reduces his [playing] life.
“After an injury, there is the recovery, and then you need a rehab, which consumes a lot of time, which you can never get back. But I have lost very little time to injury periods, which has kind of helped me lengthen my career. So I haven’t had to compromise a lot on my pace as well,” Umesh Yadav stated.
Umesh Yadav will now represent the Delhi Capitals in IPL 2021. They play their first match against the Chennai Super Kings in Mumbai on April 10.
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