Umesh Yadav: Without opportunities, how will you prove yourself?
India pacer Umesh Yadav laments not getting enough opportunities to play for India in white-ball cricket or in the Indian Premier League (IPL) over the last few years. He last donned the blue jersey back in February 2019 in a T20I against Australia at home. Even in the IPL, the pace bowler hasn’t got chances at all having played only two matches in the 2020 season while featuring for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB)
Delhi Capitals picked him in the previous season but Umesh didn’t get a game before being released. Moreover, the Vidarbha cricketer almost went unsold in the mega auction before KKR secured his services for his base price of INR 2 crore.
This is the opportunity Umesh Yadav has been waiting for. He wants to be given enough chances in the limited-overs formats to prove his mettle and with Brendon McCullum almost confirming his place in the line-up for the season opener against Chennai Super Kings, the 34-year-old will be looking forward to making an impact.
Umesh Yadav opens up
While speaking about lack of opportunities, he also opened up on the perception from the outside about a player being a specialist for certain formats. “We need opportunities and chances in white-ball cricket to perform. So, there won’t be any specific perception and players are not tagged as red-ball or white-ball specialists. If you are not getting opportunities in white-ball cricket, how will you prove yourself?” Umesh said while speaking to Times of India.
He also spoke on behalf of a few players of India’s Test specialists who haven’t been getting enough chances to play white-ball cricket for the country or even in the IPL. “Not just me, there are very senior players who have performed really well in red-ball cricket but are not getting a chance in the IPL,” he added.
Now that Umesh Yadav is getting a chance with the KKR side at least at the start of the season, the pacer will be keen to make the most of it. With the T20 World Cup later this year and then the ODI World Cup next year coming, this could well be one last chance for Umesh to make a comeback in India’s limited-overs sides.