Using two new balls killing reverse swing: Umesh
COMEBACK Pacer played his first T20 after five years, and took 2/19 versus Ireland MALAHIDE (IRELAND):
After Sachin Tendulkar, India pacer Umesh Yadav condemned the use of two new balls in One-day Internationals (ODI), saying it is killing the art of reverse swing while putting fast bowlers at great disadvantage.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) introduced new balls from each end in one-dayers in 2011. Since then, there has been a spurt in high-scoring games, the latest being the world record total of 481 posted by England against Australia.
“Because of the two new balls, it is tough for the fast bowlers to contain runs. If you have only one ball then it gets older and older and you get reverse swing. With two balls, reverse swing is rarely seen in the ODI game right now, so it is difficult for fast bowlers especially if they don’t get the lengths and the yorkers right,” said Umesh.
After a gap of five years, Umesh was picked for the second T20 International against Ireland on Friday. He took 2-19 as the hosts crashed to a 143-run defeat and handed India a 2-0 boost ahead of the T20I series against England starting Manchester on July 3. “This is like my comeback after five years,” said Umesh. “I am definitely happy with my performance in this game and I enjoyed myself a lot in this outing. I just tried to keep it simple and do the same things as I did in the IPL. In the future also, I will try to do the same routine and see how it works out for me.”
Umesh hasn’t played an ODI since September 2017. “The team is very well balanced right now. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah are doing well, and then there are other pacers too, like Mohammed Shami,” he said.
“So it gets difficult to get a chance, even though the team management is trying… their best to give us opportunities. They are trying to rotate and give chances to all fast bowlers, so I am just waiting for those chances to come.”
India travel to England for three T20Is, three ODIs which will be followed by five Tests. Asked about the plans to counter England’s aggressive batting, Umesh said: “All our bowlers did well in the IPL so we are trying to do the same things here…. There will be few adjustments from how we bowled in IPL, but we will work out what they are and how to implement them.”
MALAN IN AS COVER
Malan looks set to play in the opening game of England’s three match T20 series with India after being called up as cover for the injured Tom Curran on Saturday.
The 30-year-old batsman -who made a sparkling T20 debut for England with 78 off just 44 balls against South Africa last year -- will step in for the game at Old Trafford on Tuesday if allrounder Curran fails to recover from a side strain.
In all Malan has played five T20s for England, scoring 250 runs at a rate of 150.6 runs per 100 balls.
LONDON:Dawid