Hyderabad: Team India batting coach Sanjay Bangar was impressed with Umesh Yadav’s performance on the field on Saturday. The pacer took two wickets, held a catch and affected a runout as Bangladesh put up stiff resistance in the one-off Test here.
“Ever since the Delhi Test match against South Africa, we have seen him providing breakthroughs that the team requires. So I think the reason for that many Test victories is not only the contribution of the spinners but the small contributions that the fast bowlers have made. That’s why someone like Umesh stands out because I believe that he’s the most improved bowler in the last season and a half,” Bangar said after the third day’s play.
India may not have a great day but Bangar did pick some positives. “All our three seamers were able to get reverse swing. But Umesh (stood out) with his pace and the lengths that he bowled. Bhuvi (Bhuvneshwar Kumar) can bowl the conventional swing but Umesh can swing the ball both ways. Again Ishant (Sharma) bowls slightly back of a length but Umesh’s length allows him to swing the ball with the new ball and also with the old ball. He’s worked a lot on his wrist positions and balance at the crease,” he said.
Bangar was all praise for the strategies employed by captain Kohli and coach Kumble in sharpening the bowling attack. “You need to develop a bowling attack that gives you results in all conditions. That is the thinking that goes behind, showing faith in quicker bowlers. You don’t see three spinners playing in Tests in India but there are two seamers in the line-up. Lot of credit should go to Virat (Kohli) and Anil (Kumble) for the way they have planned things for Indian
cricket.”
Bangar also said the team needs to have perseverance in tough conditions. “Being patient on such surfaces also teaches you a lot, to be patient in certain sessions and wait for batsmen to make mistakes. Build on consecutive maidens and make them sort of score through tighter areas. Those are certain things that we as a bowling group certainly learn when we play on surfaces like these,” he said.
