Umesh Kumar Tilak Yadav is a part of the fearsome Indian pace battery that is currently ruling the Test arena. He is one of the back-up bowlers currently and waiting in the wings to grab the opportunities.
Umesh Kumar Tilak Yadav is an Indian international cricketer who represents Vidarbha cricket team in domestic first-class cricket competition. Born on 25 October 1987, he is a right-arm fast-medium bowler hailing from Nagpur, Maharashtra. He is the first player from the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra to represent India in Test cricket.
His experience of playing cricket with Leather ball earned him a place in the Vidarbha to represent them in the Plate League of the Ranji Trophy during the 2007-08 season. On 3 November 2008, Yadav made his first-class debut for Vidarbha against Madhya. He went on to claim 4 wickets in the first innings but didn’t bowl in the second innings as they lost the encounter by 10 wickets.
He featured in 4 matches that season claiming 20 wickets at an average of 14.60 with the best figures of 6/105. Yadav was selected to represent the Central Zone in the Duleep Trophy in his first season. However, it was his rapid pace, regularly clocking in the mid-140s along with considerable swing even against the direction of the seam, that caught the eye of the national selectors.
In the player auction for the 2011 Indian Premier League, Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) bought Yadav for $750,000. However, he managed just two wickets from seven matches while conceding 169 runs at an average of over nine runs per over.
At the 2012 Indian Premier League, he finished as the fourth-highest wicket-taker in the tournament, picking up 19 wickets from 17 matches.
He was brought in the player auction for the 2014 Indian Premier League by Kolkata Knight Riders for $419,355, where he went on to be one of the main players in their bowling unit.
After four fruitful seasons at KKR Umesh was let go for the 2018 edition. Royal Challengers Bangalore took that opportunity and bought him for INR 4.2 crore. He immediately repaid the faith in the management by claiming 20 wickets in his first season and was also retained for the next year. There still is the weakness of bowling at the death and it remains Umesh's Achilles' heel.
After being included in the 2010 T20 World Cup squad, Yadav, a month later included in the squad that played a tri-nation ODI series in Zimbabwe against the hosts and Sri Lanka. The majority of the first team were either rested or injured which opened the door for nine young players who impressed in the domestic cricket.
Yadav being one amongst them made his ODI debut during India's shocking loss to Zimbabwe. Defending a score of 285, Yadav bowled eight wicketless overs while conceding 48 runs. Playing in three matches that series, Yadav took just a single wicket.
In the tri-series in Australia in 2012, he bowled at 152.5 kmph against Sri Lanka at Brisbane, which is still the fourth fastest ball bowled by an Indian behind Javagal Srinath, Ishant Sharma, and Varun Aaron.
Yadav returned to international cricket in the 2013 Champions' trophy and did reasonably well, His performances with the ball ensured that he landed a ticket for the quadrennial event in Australia and New Zealand. He finished the World Cup by picking 18 wickets and finishing the tournament as India's highest wicket-taker and the third-highest overall.
Umesh Yadav was selected for the 2017 Champions Trophy too but with Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah in the team he got to play only two matches where he took three wickets.
After a string of impressive performances in the domestic circuit, he was called into India's squad for the 2010 World Twenty20 in place of the injured Praveen Kumar but was benched for the whole tournament. Ultimately he made his T20I debut two years later against Sri Lanka.
Yadav made his Test debut in the first match when West Indies toured in November 2011 and opened the bowling in the first innings, though failed to take a wicket. In the second innings, Yadav took two wickets for 36 runs to help India to a five-wicket victory. As India won the second Test, Yadav finished with nine wickets, being India's most successful fast bowler in the series.
When India toured Australia in 2011–12, which India lost 4-0, during the third Test at the WACA Ground in Perth, Yadav took his first five-wicket haul in Test cricket, with figures of 5/93 in Australia's first and only innings.
While India was drubbed by Australia during the 2012 down under tour and many senior players couldn’t perform, Umesh Yadav stood out from the rest. With his pace and seam movement Yadav scalped 14 Aussie wickets in four Tests, and became India's highest wicket-taker on the tour. However, soon came the injuries and in December 2012, Yadav was ruled out of both the second and third test against England due to a lower back injury.
He was roped in by the selectors for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia in 2014/15 due to the lack of options in terms of fast bowling. Yadav exhibited his potential and penetration with 11 wickets across the last 3 Tests. He was part of the winning 2018 India squad in Australia too but got limited chances to prove his mettle.
Hailing from Nagpur, the son of a coal-miner had a family to feed and pursued a career as a police officer. After several failed attempts in the police force and the army, a teen-aged Umesh Yadav turned to cricket in a desperate attempt to make ends meet. Umesh Yadav is married to Tanya Wadhwa. Tanya is a fashion designer by profession. Both met during an IPL match and she is fond of cricket.
