Umesh Yadav - Suitcase in hand, fire in his belly and cricket in his heart

A person without a sense of self-confidence often struggles to make the right decisions. Undecipherable thought forces an individual to not rectify the flaws, which becomes a barrier in the path to success. Failures do not mark the end of the road, but they should always be seen as a stumbling block in life that we all generally encounter at some point in time. There are few people who derive important lessons from preceding experiences and believe in themselves despite the hardships.

Having endured through a lot of adversities, Umesh Yadav never refrained from dreaming big. Rest, as they say, is history. 

Vidarbha captain, Faiz Fazal recollects the fascinating incident from 2009, where Umesh and he had been picked for Central Zone ahead of Duleep Trophy fixture against a star-studded South Zone line-up. Yadav had travelled on his brother's bike to the airport. Riding pillion on the vehicle, he had a suitcase in one hand and a cricket kit in the other. Fazal, accompanied by his aunt, was spellbound by his sheer determination. But one thing that is still stuck in his head is the words of his aunt, which eventually turned out to be true. In a chat show with renowned sports commentator Arun Venugopal, Fazal reminiscences the occurrences at the airport.  "I had reached the airport. Poor Umesh was riding pillion on his brother's bike with the kit bag in one hand and a suitcase in another. My aunt, who had come there to drop me, said: 'Look at this poor thing. But you know what?  Aise hi log bahut jaldi India khel lete hain (Such hardworking people go on to play for the India team really quickly)' I still remember what she said,” Fazal was quoted as saying. 

The Central Zone boasted a pace battery of RP Singh, Praveen Kumar and Pankaj Singh. It seemed unthinkable for a youngster to work his way into playing XI. Praveen Kumar, however, fell ill and was deemed unavailable for an all-important game, opening the doors of opportunity for Umesh. What transpired in the next five days was indefinable. A 20-year-old, in only his fifth first-class match, had nullified the threat of three batting stalwarts  - Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, and S Badrinath. 

In the first innings, Yadav stamped his authority, returning with impressive figures of 5 for 76. Considering that it was a televised game, his outstanding display of fast bowling endeared a good amount of attention from the cricketing fraternity.

"That was a career-defining match for him. I have seen him grow tremendously and he soon went on to play for the country. I am so proud that he has gone on to play for India,” Fazal further added.