IPL 2022: Umesh Yadav redeeming himself as a powerplay beast for KKR

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) were understandably not rated very highly before the start of IPL 2022. However, they find themselves in a very strong position after winning two out of their first three matches and Umesh Yadav is one of the main reasons behind their success so far.

Umesh, in just three matches so far, has scalped 8 wickets at an average of 7.37 with an economy of 4.91. He has finished each of his three spells with at least two wickets and an economy of under 6, and he has also been the ‘Player of the Match’ in both games won by KKR. That’s a magnificent effort for someone who is regularly criticised for wayward bowling. 

Umesh Yadav’s powerplay heroics in IPL 2022:

Powerplay wickets are very impactful in T20 cricket, and KKR have taken every bit of advantage from the new ball movement using Umesh. The 34-year-old has bowled three powerplay overs in the first two games and two in the third match. Overall, he has picked up 5 wickets at an average of 7.8 with an economy of 4.88 in powerplay.

The right-arm seamer managed to cause early damage in all three games. The new ball has moved a fair bit in the tournament and Umesh, with his skillset of swinging the ball in the air, has bowled beautifully.

However, Umesh didn’t start well. The first ball of the tournament was a no-ball as he overstepped. Then he bowled a wide after beating Ruturaj Gaikwad on the free-hit delivery. But he swung the ball well and got his reward quite soon. Gaikwad chased a short and wide delivery, that was moving a bit away from him, and was caught by Nitish Rana in the slips.

Umesh pitched full occasionally and got the ball to zip off the surface from the good length. In his last powerplay over, he sent Devon Conway back who stepped out on a short of the length delivery and got cramped for the room.

Watch: Faf 5, Kohli 12 – RCB top-order collapses to fiery Umesh Yadav, Southee spell as fears of ’49 all out’ echoes

Umesh’s spell against RCB was excellent – his best new-ball spell of the season so far. Not only he moved the new ball, but he also bowled with good pace and energy. 

He got Anuj Rawat with a back-of-length delivery in the outside-off channel, which the batter ended up edging to Sheldon Jackson. It was a good new-ball wicket as Anuj edged to the wicket-keeper, despite playing on the back-foot.

Umesh’s second wicket was of Virat Kohli. Kohli had over-committed on the front foot and the delivery bounced a bit from the good length to take the outside edge. Kohli had hit him for two fours in the first over but Umesh won the battle eventually. 

Against Punjab Kings, Umesh got the important wicket of Mayank Agarwal in the first over. The delivery seemed to move away from Mayank but came back into him after pitching, and outfoxed the batter. He picked up another big wicket – of Liam Livingstone – in the 9th over. Umesh kept the ball away from Livingstone’s arc, which he still managed to hit hard, but was caught on the boundary.

Talking points

So, Umesh has bowled three quality new-ball spells so far. He has made the ball swing in the air and set the tone for his side. Another crucial part of his bowling has been that the ball has skid quite well after pitching. So, with a good pace and skid, the KKR pacer has ensured that the batters don’t get enough time to adjust after the ball has pitched.

Also, Umesh hasn’t shown desperation for wickets as only 14.58% of his deliveries in the powerplay were over-pitched. He has maintained good control of lines and hasn’t allowed the batters any room to free their arms. It’s very early days but it’s worth noting that his balls-per-boundary ratio of 10.86 in IPL 2022 so far is by far the best for him in any IPL season. 

The KKR management, including Shreyas Iyer, also deserves a bit of credit for using Umesh well. As mentioned earlier, he bowled three overs in the powerplay in two out of three matches. His last over was the 16th against CSK and 14th against RCB while defending a low target. 

Umesh didn’t bowl an over against Punjab Kings as the other two seamers — Tim Southee & Shivam Mavi — can also exploit the new-ball movement and are powerplay pacers. KKR also used Varun Chakravarthy in the fifth over against Shikhar Dhawan & Liam Livingstone, so that’s also fair enough.

  

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Umesh has massively helped KKR in gaining momentum at the start of their bowling innings and in the first week of the tournament as well. While he may not replicate such performances regularly in the competition ahead, the KKR management should keep working with the man in form. 

Also, as the tournament progresses, the pace off the deck is likely to reduce, but Umesh should focus on hitting the right areas. KKR should cherish the excellent performances of the veteran pacer, who didn’t play a single game in IPL 2021 & just two in 2020, and was bought after going unsold in the first two rounds of the auction!