Bharat Arun’s tips came in handy, says Umesh Yadav

New Delhi: Umesh Yadav’s consistency has been one of the major highlights of India’s successful domestic Test season and the pacer gives a lot of credit to newly-appointed bowling coach Bharat Arun who worked on his flaws during his earlier stint with the national team.

“Yes, last season has been one of my best in Test cricket where I showed a lot of consistency. But having shown that level of consistency, I would attribute the success to the efforts I had put in to rectify my mistakes of preceding seasons,” Umesh said.

“The results showed because I worked on my bowling when I was getting in and out of the team. Bharat Arun sir used to work a lot with me when I wasn’t part of the playing XI. When I would be in Nagpur, it would be Subroto Banerjee sir (former India seamer) who would work on my technique. I am indebted to both,” Umesh, who played 12 out of India’s 13 Tests, said.

It was also a season, where Umesh got 17 wickets against Australia — highest by an Indian pacer in four Test series. Known for his out-swingers, Umesh last season also showed that he could bring the deliveries back into right handers more consistently.

“Actually, my natural grip on the seam is one where fingers are locked. That’s the grip for outswing deliveries (away going for right-hand batsmen).

“Before this season, I worked on open grip with a slight alteration of my wrist position. This grip has two fold benefit - you can get the delivery back in and also at times get it to straighten after pitching,” Umesh explained.

Umesh is mentally preparing for the upcoming tour of Sri Lanka where Kookaburra balls will be used for Tests instead of the ‘SG Test’ balls used for matches in India.