Umesh Yadav’s fiery spell broke Australia’s back in the second innings on Day 3 of the fourth Test in Dharamsala. His three wickets played a vital part as the visitors collapsed for a paltry 137 runs.
The fiery spell saw Umesh rock the Australians early into their second innings as he sent back both openers David Warner and Matt Renshaw. He later returned to help India wrap up the tail with the wicket of Nathan Lyon.
Following day’s play, Umesh dissected the performance with fellow pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who himself made quite an impact with the crucial wicket of Steve Smith.
“I really enjoyed bowling on this wicket,” said Yadav told Bhuvneshwar, in a video shared on bcci.tv. “The way the Australians bowlers had bowled... Pat Cummins was bowling bouncers. So, I felt we bowled less bouncers in the second innings. That’s why it was planned to bowl as many bouncers as possible in the second innings with the new ball. I really enjoyed bowling bouncers, bowled them with all my heart.”
“We had to win the match and this being the last Test of the season, I felt that we had to give some effort,” he added.
Another reason for Umesh to bowl bouncers was to give the Aussies back in kind.
“When I was batting, I received two-three bouncers. I decided that I would show them I can bowl bouncers too. At the same time, I had to make sure that I kept control while being aggressive,” said Yadav.
Bhuvneshwar too used the same template but had a score to settle of his own.
“When I went into bat, Pat Cummins was bowling. Warner was asking me if he was bowling too fast, so when I bowled the bouncer to Warner, I asked him if this was too fast,” Bhuvneshwar said.