Umesh Yadav not bowled enough!

The second Test between West Indies and India was nothing short of agonizing for the Indians. The fourth day was the ideal one for them to bowl out the opposition as the moist conditions and the damp outfield would have complemented the Indian bowlers, yet intermittent spells of rain meant that only about 16 overs could be bowled in the day thus denying the Indians, an opportunity to wrap up the match early.

The fifth day held great promise for the Indians and yet, the sun shined bright on the West Indies’ fortunes as the warm climate created a condition ideal for batting and their middle order capitalized on that as they batted the whole day with some noteworthy performances from Roston Chase and Jermaine Blackwood denying Indians the opportunity to bowl out the opposition. A day particularly disappointing for the Indians was even more so for the fast bowlers who looked set, seemed to be hitting the right areas, created the occasional moments of awe, the occasional bouts of reverse swing could have been potentially damaging and yet, the momentum was lost at a critical juncture.

A day particularly disappointing for the Indians was even more so for the fast bowlers who looked set, seemed to be hitting the right areas, created the occasional moments of awe, the occasional bouts of reverse swing could have been potentially damaging and yet, the momentum was lost at a critical juncture.

In the abject failure of the Indian fast bowlers, nothing is more dissatisfying than seeing a bowler like Umesh Yadav being used in a rather inefficient manner, perhaps a consequence of this improper use of the fast bowler was the reason behind him faltering in this Test match.

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Being the fastest bowler in a team’s bowling lineup has its own price to pay for one has to make truce with the fact that one’s excess speed will often work to the batsman’s advantage. Umesh has many a times seen his speed become a disadvantage; his critics haven’t spared him for his economy rate and yet his importance in the Indian bowling lineup can’t be underestimated. The reason being that the best compensation for those few extra runs or sometimes plenty of extra runs is a wicket and Umesh Yadav more often than not delivers that!

What was until now turning out to be a great series for Yadav hit a sort of a bleak patch as he surprisingly went wicketless in the second Test match, something we can expect when a fast bowler gets to bowl only 18 overs combined in both the innings of a Test match and evidently the alternatives for Yadav used by Kohli didn’t turn out to be so profitable either.

Being bowled in patches, irregular spells, and being replaced frequently didn’t work to Yadav’s advantage as he was denied the time to settle down in a more personal rhythm. In the occasional moments when he found himself at the bowling crease, the chances created were abundant, the speed was spot on and bounce was tenacious and yet, in his limited stint at the bowling crease, the West Indians persisted through Yadav with a relative ease as they did with the other Indian bowlers.

Another fact which might have worked against Yadav is that he wasn’t trusted as the guardian of the new ball, the first preference always going to Ishant Sharma and Mohammad Shami and while in the first innings they didn’t fail to deliver, it couldn’t have hurt India to experiment a bit in the second innings, being a natural fast bowler, Yadav might have succeeded in extracting that extra amount of surprise zip in the ball.

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India’s overseas past exposes its vulnerability to lower order fight backs and what happened in the second Test was another example of the same as after running through the initial bunch of batsmen, the Indian bowling lineup failed to capitalize on the momentum and the result was a rather dismal one for the favorites.

Umesh Yadav’s minimal presence at the bowling crease is strange considering that he was prolific in India’s victory in the first Test as he picked up 5 wickets in the match including a four for in the first inning. Surely enough, Virat Kohli has some questions to answer and some pondering to do!