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India’s five-pronged pace attack in Tests consists of Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav and Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
However, very rarely do we see all the five bowlers in action due to injuries or playing conditions. The country, traditionally reputed to provide meek pacers, is now being hailed as one of the best pace attacks, if not the best, in the world.
Add Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini, Shardul Thakur, Syed Khaleel Ahmed, Mohammed Siraj into the list, who keep knocking at the doors of selectors, completing an abundant reservoir of promising fast bowlers in the country.
Vidarbha pacer, Yadav, seldom gets the opportunity to feature in Test matches with the trio of Bumrah, Ishant and Shami preferred over the rest.
Well, Yadav has done well during Test at home, whenever he got an opportunity, albeit, has a half-decent record in Test abroad.
He recently picked an ideal Test playing XI, in which he picked himself along with the trio mentioned above, as the four pacers in the team. “My ideal XI would consist of three of the four fast bowlers [Bumrah, Ishant, Shami and me],” Umesh said during an Instagram chat with Sportskeeda.
For the opening slot, he went ahead with Karnataka stalwarts KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal, and pushed Rohit Sharma at number three.
To accommodate all three Test openers, Umesh sacrificed Cheteshwar Pujara’s place at number three. “Mayank Agarwal, KL Rahul, in my opinion, should come back into the side”, the 32-year old said.
“Then, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. As for the wicketkeeper, it is very tough to choose between Wriddhiman Saha and Rishabh Pant. But, as a wicketkeeper, there is no doubt that Saha is better. Pant is still young and he has a lot to learn but he has the talent,” justified Umesh.
Umesh Yadav’s ideal India Test XI:
Mayank Agarwal, KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Wriddhiman Saha, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah
