Umesh’s perfect 10 gives Kohli a ‘good headache’
Growing strength in pace department leaves India spoilt for choice ahead of Aussie tour
Arare 10-wicket match haul on home soil last week underlined India’s growing strength in depth in the pace department— a development giving captain Virat Kohli the right kind of headache ahead of the tour of Australia.
Umesh Yadav became only the third Indian paceman to claim 10 wickets in a home Test when he helped the hosts to a 10-wicket victory against West Indies in the second Test in Hyderabad.
Kohli has had strong recent returns from the Indian fast bowling fraternity, which could be crucial to his hopes of winning the four-Test series Down Under later this year.
Mohammad Shami, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah have all been part of the India’s pace attack in recent Tests and Umesh had needed something special to boost his chances of making the cut for the squad to Australia.
“It’s a good headache to have... This is obviously something every captain would want to have,” Kohli told reporters. “It’s good to have all guys confident and raring to go because four tests in Australia can be brutal because the ball doesn’t do much like England. You have to come in and run in all day, bowl in the right areas, with pace. So from that point of view, Umesh is right up there to be featuring in Australia because he’s got the pace.”