Umesh Yadav, who was instrumental in India's recent success in the Champions Trophy and Tri-series in West Indies, has been omitted from the squad. He was impressive with his pace and swung the ball prodigiously in both tournaments.
With a long season ahead, he was rightly given a two-month break after the West Indies series and was rested for the Zimbabwe series. No doubt, he looked rusty in the Challenger Trophy in Indore where the wickets were flat and almost all the medium pacers struggled.
Two wickets at an average of 76 with an economy rate of eight runs per over is not something you expect from India's frontline seamer.
Yadav's Vidarbha teammates, while expressing surprise over his exclusion, feel excessive rains prevented him from bowling outdoors and that is why he was short of match practice.
"After the West Indies series, he didn't even play a club match. He was mostly confined to the gym. He trained indoors, but you can't bowl with a full run up when you are training indoors. That may be the reason why he struggled in the Challenger Trophy. However, he did well in the last two series and the selectors could have considered that," a player, speaking on condition of anonymity, told TOI.
Was it fair to judge the player only on the basis of two matches?
His mentor, Subroto Banerjee, doesn't want to pay too much heed to his performance in the Challenger Trophy. "I have seen him bounce back previously and there's no reason why can't he do it again. Currently, he is the only one in the country who bowls at 140kmph. When you bowl at that pace, it's not easy to have control. If you go for wickets, you can be expensive. There's no doubt he will have to learn control, but he is a wicket-taker," Banerjee told TOI.
Sources in the BCCI also denied that the Vidarbha pacer has been dropped. "He hasn't been dropped. He will be crucial for the team in the coming months. India will play continuously for the next year or so. Besides, the team is only for three ODIs. He can always make a comeback," a BCCI official said.
Banerjee also feels that the selectors might have given Yadav more time to rest. "With a long season ahead, the selectors are thinking of preserving him. India are going to play non-stop cricket from here on and if the selectors are thinking on those lines, they are absolutely correct. We have seen how fast bowlers across the world are breaking down because of non-stop cricket. The likes of Pat Cummins and James Pattinson often get injured. South Africa are the only team who are managing their pacers well," he observed.
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