Sehwag pointed out that Umesh can bowl extended spells at pace.
According to Sehwag, Umesh has the ability to bowl unplayable deliveries. He further pointed out that the Vidarbha speedster can bowl extended spells at pace.
"Absolutely. He is fit, he bowls fast, can bowl the long spells. So I feel that he should be played," Sehwag said during a discussion on the Sony Sports network.
The former opening batsman also expressed his wish to see Umesh Yadav in India’s limited-overs team even though he might be inconsistent at times.
"But I have been his fan as well, that he should be played in white-ball cricket also. No doubt he has the wicket-taking ability although he might bowl one or two bad balls in an over. But the ball he delivers at the right spot, at times it is unplayable," he opined.
Sehwag recalled that he asked Umesh Yadav to consistently bowl in the good length areas during the 2008 tour of Australia.
"When he had come for the first time in the Australia tour of 2008, he used to bowl in the nets. I used to tell him just the one thing, that on these Australian pitches if you keep bowling on the good length regularly then you can trouble the batsmen because he gets the swing."
Sehwag believes Umesh would have been even more successful in Test cricket had he been a little more consistent with his line and length.
"So in all these years he had to do just the one thing, that he bowls all the six deliveries at the same spot, then he can trouble the batsmen in Test cricket. We have seen Pollock, Hoggard, Glenn McGrath and Gillespie - all these people just used to bowl in one corridor and used to trouble the batsmen," he concluded.