India’s senior pacer, Umesh Yadav, has returned to India’s T20I set-up after more than three years as a replacement for Mohammad Shami after he tested positive for COVID-19 ahead of the upcoming three-match T20I series against Australia at home.
However, Mohammed Siraj was the favorite to come in India’s T20I squad ahead of Yadav, but he is currently in England playing county cricket for Warwickshire, hence Team India recalled Umesh for the three T20Is against Aaron Finch and his side.
After earning a recall to India’s T20I team, Umesh, 34, is elated and said he is quite fit for his age and has been bowling well in recent times, most recently in the Royal London One-Day Cup and County Championship for Middlesex in England.
As reported by News18, Umesh Yadav said in an interview: “I like to think that I am pretty fit for someone my age and I am bowling well too. It feels good to be selected for the country, just looking forward to contributing whenever I get the chance.”
The 34-year-old pacer felt lucky to get an offer from Middlesex to play in county cricket, which allowed him to play competitive cricket when there wasn’t much cricket playing in India.
He added, “You could say that I was lucky because not many matches were happening in India because of the rain, so got lucky with the Middlesex offer. I knew that only practicing and not playing any matches won’t amount to anything. When you play, your body remains in that environment, your muscles stay loose and you are more agile. I was enjoying my county stint, the weather in England is good.”
Umesh signed off by saying on his IPL 2022 stint with KKR, “I did not play any white-ball cricket after playing for RCB in IPL 2020. I was doing well, practicing well, but I did not get the chance. No one was aware of how I was doing in the nets. Everyone got to see how well I was doing when I got a chance with KKR in IPL 2022. People got to understand that I was not just relaxing in the off-season.”
