Happy Birthday Umesh Yadav: A look at his best spells in Tests and 2015 World Cup

Even though he got his first call-up for India in limited overs cricket in 2010, Umesh Yadav quickly developed himself into one of the best bowlers on the Test side. However, inconsistent away performances put a halt to his Test career, while being considered a fearsome bowler in home conditions. Whenever the Vidarbha pacer features in the white jersey, he is known for producing significant damage with his lethal pace as well as almost error-free line and length. Since his Test debut in 2011, Yadav has played 52 matches in red-ball cricket and has fetched a total of 158 scalps so far. He has also got 106 ODI wickets to his name in 75 games. Today (25 October) Umesh Yadav celebrates his 35th birthday. On this special occasion, let’s take a look at his top spells in Test cricket: 6 for 88 and 4 for 45 vs West Indies in 2018 Prior to their tour to Australia, India’s 2-0 whitewash against the West Indies in 2018 was made possible in large part by Umesh’s 10-wicket haul. In Test cricket, these numbers continue to stand as the best bowling figures for the right-arm quick. In the opening innings, he bagged 6 wickets. India only needed to score 72 runs to win, thanks to his second innings four-wicket spell. The Men in Blue clinched the victory by 10 wickets. 5 for 93 vs Australia in 2012 India lost that Test match by an innings and 37 runs against Australia, hence Yadav’s first five-wicket haul in Test cricket is not well remembered. After being given the opportunity to bat, the visitors were bundled out for 161 runs on the board, and the Aussies responded by scoring 369. Without his five-wicket haul, in which he trapped two dangerous batters, Ricky Ponting and Shaun Marsh, the visitors would have been able to score more runs. 4 for 32 vs Australia in 2017 India’s poor batting performance eclipsed Yadav’s another outstanding bowling performance. As India managed to dismiss Australia for just 260 in the first innings and put themselves in a strong position to win the Test match, the pacer got 4 wickets to lead the attack. However, Australia won the game by a huge 333 runs because of India’s batting failures in the first and second innings which saw a total of 105 and 107 respectively. If we look at his ODI career, Umesh Yadav’s bowling displays in the 2015 World Cup unquestionably occupy the front row. Here are his top performances in the competition: 3 for 43 vs Zimbabwe In the crucial group-league tie against Zimbabwe, Yadav destroyed the opponents’ batting unit. He scalped three wickets allowing just 43 runs in his 10 overs. His economy rate in the contest was also noteworthy as he successfully managed to keep it under 5. Zimbabwe were bundled out for 287 runs and India won the game by 6 wickets. 4 for 31 vs Bangladesh: Yadav shone again in the quarter-final battle against Bangladesh. Batting first, India posted a massive 302 runs on the board. In reply, Bangladesh were all-out for 193 thanks to Yadav’s commendable spell of 4 wickets. He made it difficult for the middle-order batters to accelerate the chase and conceded only 31 runs in his 9 overs. Read all the  Latest News ****,  Trending News ****,  Cricket News ****,  Bollywood News ****,  India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook****,  Twitter and  Instagram****.