IND v AUS 2023: Parthiv Patel heaps praise on Umesh Yadav for his fiery spell against Australia

Umesh Yadav’s performance with the ball has been a major factor in team India attempting a comeback against Australia in the third Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Yadav produced a reverse-swing masterclass as he struck three times to take the wickets of Cameron Green, Mitchell Starc, and Todd Murphy. 

Yadav’s spell was integral in ensuring that Australia did not build up a huge lead against India. The visitors were eventually bundled out on 197; had it not been for Yadav’s spell, the lead would have been bigger and things could have gotten out of hands for India.

The 35-year-old earned praise from many experts, one such individual being former Indian cricketer Parthiv Patel. "Umesh Yadav is the best bowler to bowl in Indian conditions. He completed 100 wickets in India as well, so we have to praise him. He bowls the reverse swing well and bowls stump to stump. In terms of accuracy, he knows the length," Parthiv Patel said in a chat with Cricbuzz.

"Even if it is a low bounce wicket, he knows the top of the off length, the one that bowling coaches tell you. He keeps bowling that If you look at Cameron Green's wicket, it was on top of the stump, even if it was on the leg stump."

"When he bowled Mitchell Starc and Murphy, you could see that he was bowling top of the off length. Stump-to-stump bowling is necessary on such tracks. Umesh Yadav has pace, reverse swing, and knows the length to bowl and the line to bowl. If you want to see a masterclass in reverse swing, then that was shown by Umesh Yadav today," he further added.

Cheteshwar Pujara only strong pillar in India's second innings 

Although the bowlers provided India with some hope in the first session, the top order again failed to leave a mark following which, the hosts kept losing wickets in regular intervals to let Australia take command over the match.

Cheteshwar Pujara, for a long time, had been the lone warrior standing, who slowly crept his way to a half-century, helping India build a 50-plus run lead. Coming in to bat when India were 15/1, Pujara had carefully built his innings by playing on the merit of the ball and rotating strikes to keep the score-board moving. He had hit five boundaries and one six in his innings of 59 runs, before finally getting out to Nathan Lyon.