Former Australian batter and Kolkata Knight Riders team mentor, David Hussey, was effusive in praise for Indian speedster Umesh Yadav after his consistent performances at the start of the ongoing Indian Premier League season.
Umesh is currently the leading wicket-taker for IPL 2022, with eight scalps from just three matches. The experienced pace bowler has been tremendous inside the powerplay, averaging just 7.38 with an economy rate of 4.92. His exploits with swing have rocked the opposition hard in the early stages of the games and given KKR a firm foot in the ascendancy.
In many ways, a return to Kolkata has been a blessing for the Indian quick, who played only two games for Delhi Capitals over the last two Premier League season, in one indirect sign of the league’s expansion, now looks set to play all games for the Shreyas Iyer led team.
For Hussey, Umesh is KKR’s best buy for the season after they signed him for INR 2 crores in February. Interestingly, the pacer went unsold in the initial stages of the bidding war but was eventually roped in by KKR, who were eyeing fast-bowling options at that point.
“He’s probably been the best buy in the IPL,”
Hussey was quoted as saying on the franchise’s website.
The former Australian middle-order batter also reckons the presence of Bharat Arun in KKR’s coaching staff has also benefited Umesh a lot.
Bharat had a longstanding association with the senior Indian team until the T20 World Cup in November last year, a time span in which he worked with Umesh and other of India’s prominent quicks.
“He has been outstanding upfront taking early wickets. Him and [Bharat] Arun work very well together, they have worked together for 5-6 years now. They have got a good respectful relationship,”
the KKR mentor stated.
It is under former India pacer Arun’s presence and guidance that Umesh had a turnaround in his Test career. Reduced into a one-format specialist for most parts, Umesh has elevated his status into an impactful Test match enforcer for India, especially in home conditions. Since the start of 2017, the right-arm swing bowler has averaged 24.65 across 24 Tests despite playing most of them in India. His average for this phase is significantly better than his overall career tally per piece.
Swing, and particularly the new-ball swing, has been key to Umesh’s success for the Knight Riders in the IPL, too. The two-time champions have looked to maximise his strengths and, unlike his ex franchises, not looked to put him outside his comfort zone at the death. Umesh has a terrific record inside the powerplay in IPL cricket, which dips drastically in the end-overs.
Tactically, nothing makes a bigger impact in a T20 than wickets inside the powerplay. Teams still lose more games than they win after conceding two or more wickets in the field-restriction overs, finding it extremely difficult to recover through their innings. Umesh gets those impactful wickets in the IPL. Having made 50 such scalps with an economy rate of 7.60, he is right up there as one of the best powerplay weapons in the league’s history.
Control and consistency have been an issue with Umesh, which is why his overall IPL record remains indifferent, and death-overs woes persist. But the tactical nature of the powerplay and freedom given by the KKR set-up is helping him accentuate the impact of his strengths to great effect.
