Life In The Fast Lane For Speedster Umesh Yadav.

[Malcolm Merlyn]

FAR too many fast bowlers in India have burst on the scene, promising to bowl at 145 kmph but settling into a line and length variety. After Ishant Sharma went off the boil, a lot was expected of Karnataka pacer Abhimanyu Mithun who was touted as the fastest bowler in India but barely crossed the 80 mph mark in his ODI debut against South Africa. It meant that there was no bowler on the horizon who could crank it up and push the batsmen on the back foot. That was until the Delhi Daredevils unleashed Umesh Yadav in the third edition of the Indian Premier League. Even though he doesn't have a bagful of wickets in his kitty, Yadav, who plays for Vidarbha in the Ranji Plate division, has consistently bowled close to 90 mph and is considered as the fastest Indian bowler. The son of a coalmine worker, Yadav didn't bowl with a leather ball till he was 19. Till then, tennis- ball cricket was all the pacer indulged in. Four wickets in his Ranji debut and five in his first Duleep Trophy game in January 2009, with the scalps of Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman, were enough for the Daredevils to pick him. " I wasn't sure of a career in cricket. If not a fast bowler, I probably would have been a policeman. But after my Duleep Trophy game, TA Sekhar ( who was associated with the Daredevils) called me up. Naseeb ki bat hain ( It was a matter of fate)," Yadav told MAIL TODAY on Sunday. Coming from a part of India not known to produce cricketers, life wasn't easy and Yadav knows that now that he has got a chance to impress in the IPL " When I was playing back home, papa just about managed to take care of my requirements. I used to play a lot of tennis- ball cricket tournaments and the money made from them would be enough for me. But I know that there are many bowlers who have come and gone. For me, pace is my strength. I can't perform without it. The wickets nowadays are so flat and batsmen are so aggressive, if you don't have pace, you won't survive." He was called up to the MRF Pace Academy in his first season but a stress fracture stress fracture in his lower back stopped him from polishing his skills there. As things turned out, the time away from the game made him stronger and the IPL has given him an opportunity to taste international cricket at home. And the one moment he will never forget is bowling to Matthew Hayden in only his second ball of the IPL. http://www.thefreelibrary.com/LIFE+IN+THE+FAST+LANE+FOR+SPEEDSTER+UMESH+YADAV.-a0222446923 PS:Stress Fracture:A fatigue fracture of bone caused by repeated application of a heavy load, such as the constant pounding on a surface by runners, gymnasts, and dancers. :nervous::nervous::nervous:

[yoda]

The son of a coalmine worker,

wow :hail:

[varun]

He was called up to the MRF Pace Academy in his first season but a stress fracture in his lower back stopped him from polishing his skills there

Thank god for that, or else we would have another trundling line-n-length attempting munaf-esque automaton.

[ViruRulez]

I really respect these guys who come from such humble backgrounds and give out their heart .. last year I was impressed by Kamran to some extent and this year I am genuinely impressed by this Umesh Yadav .. I personally want him in the Indian team very soon .. many people might disagree but I dont want him to be coached from the likes of Prasad and to lose his pace.. his pace is a great weapon and he is one of the few bowlers who can hit 145K consistently without putting effort .. he has good control of the ball too .. no need for much coaching from trundlers like Prasad .. hope he is given the international break soon .. at least he will be a lot more useful than carrying baggage such as RP, Ishant and Tyagi

[The Dark Horse]

Would anybody have heard of him if not for the IPL? Wish u the best:two_thumbs_up:

[Ram]

One of the other poster had pointed this out in the speed thread - Why people arent talking more about this guy is simply mind-boggling. For a cricket-crazy country like ours which has literally been on its knees for decades, praying for that elusive genuine quick, well, Umesh Yadav may well be the answer. This guy is quick, I mean, properly quick. He isnt one of those Occasional- 88mph-Otherwise-82mph kinda bowler. He can bowl 6 balls an an over, all around 90 mph, without too much effort. Yet, this has made hardly a ripple in the mainstream national media. Now, how successful he can be as a bowler is an entirely different issue. But the only plausible explanation as to why his story gets passed up like this could be that he is from a small town from a largely unknown state. There was so much hype and hoopla over someone like Abhimanyu Mithun and in the end he turned out to be strictly fast medium at best. Its sad that where you come from, has such a large bearing on how far you can go, in your cricketing career.

[ViruRulez]

One of the other poster had pointed this out in the speed thread - Why people arent talking more about this guy is simply mind-boggling. For a cricket-crazy country like ours which has literally been on its knees for decades, praying for that elusive genuine quick, well, Umesh Yadav may well be the answer. This guy is quick, I mean, properly quick. He isnt one of those Occasional- 88mph-Otherwise-82mph kinda bowler. He can bowl 6 balls an an over, all around 90 mph, without too much effort. Yet, this has made hardly a ripple in the mainstream national media. Now, how successful he can be as a bowler is an entirely different issue. But the only plausible explanation as to why his story gets passed up like this could be that he is from a small town from a largely unknown state. There was so much hype and hoopla over someone like Abhimanyu Mithun and in the end he turned out to be strictly fast medium at best. Its sad that where you come from, has such a large bearing on how far you can go, in your cricketing career.

I agree with you on that. I also BCCI picking players for national team only from big Ranji teams. It looks as if BCCI forgot that it is picking up individuals and not teams for the national squad. This was one of the main reason why a huge portion of the players from the smaller teams left Indian cricket to play for ICL. The players from small states and teams are many a times meted out step-motherly treatment and turned a blind eye to and many of the players who joined ICL also told that. They said they would never get to play in the big league however well they perform and so they left Indian cricket at that time. It is time that BCCI also keeps an eye on talents from small teams instead of only looking at the big teams. IPL has to condemned in the fact that these players from small states and teams are now making some limelight. Two good examples of such players this IPL are Umesh Yadav and Saurabh Tiwary both of whom performed well in Ranjis from small team but unnoticed until IPL.

[flamy]

It is good that there isn't much hype. Wish he gets picked for the national team.

[vishalvirsingh]

i saw umesh bowling first time in the match between deccan and delhi..ball on which he got suman was a beauty and it ws so fast...i feel that many batsman would have got bowled of that ball...i feel he ws really bowling fast n superb .. guys told me that he ws bowling at 145 k m per hr..and yes he ws looking faster then nehra and nannes as well...ooh i bet this is serious talent and one needs to really take care of such talent... a bowler who bowls faster than 145 k can get a batsman out at any point .. is a real pick up for a test match .. i am a batsman and i know no bowler likes balls at such pace...and no batsman can control bouncy balls at such pace.. he is a talent, needs to be taken care..sreesanth is around 140 and other indian bowlers like ishant etc are also around 140, even zaheer's fast bowls are around 140.. bt this guy balls 144-145 quite easily...take care of him pick him up.. mithun seems to be a 125 to 135k bowler..wont really become a testmatch bowler...umesh is definitely better than sudeep tyagi and mithun