This India attack can get 20 SA wickets: Umesh
Yadav says the current Indian attack has the ability to take 20 wickets in a Test match during its tour of South Africa, seen by many as the side’s litmus test following a string of successes at home.
“The wickets in South Africa will put the focus back on the fast bowling unit and rightly so. There will be a lot of expectation from us and I believe this attack has the ability to get 20 South African wickets. All of us had a good 14 months at home and it’s time to translate into overseas success,” said Umesh.
What makes him optimistic is the lion-hearted performance of the pacers on rather unresponsive home tracks in recent times.
“I believe good fitness, proper plans were key to our success in the sub-continent. But the main thing is the attitude with which you enter the field. If we can maintain it in South Africa, no one can stop us,” said the man, who is one shy of completing 100 Test wickets.
Sanjay Manjrekar, in a column, urged Umesh to bowl a line where batsmen don’t leave most of his deliveries and also owing to the suspect slip catching of the Indian team.
Umesh felt like Kapil Dev, his strength is natural outswinger and he doesn’t want to lose it trying to bowl too many inswingers.
“Like Kapil Dev, my natural delivery is outswinger. If I try to bowl too many incoming deliveries, it can lead to me losing my outswinger, which I don’t want. There will be a few changeups with incoming deliveries but outswinger remains my strength,” said Umesh.
Indian pacers got carried away with their line on earlier occasions when they got pacerfriendly wickets, but it won’t happen this time,” he assured.
“During earlier tours, we were younger and expectedly more excited. But now, all of us -- Ishant, Shami, Bhuvi and myself know how to curb our over enthusiasm. We will be assessing the conditions,” said Umesh.
“Like if it’s hard and bouncy pitch, you have to hit the good length consistently while if it’s spongy bouncy then I will have to pitch it up,” he elaborated.
Umesh made it clear that the national selectors never bracketed him as a “Test specialist” just because he played nine ODIs in 2017.
NEWDELHI:Umesh