Kuldeep Yadav's exclusion from the Indian Playing 11 vs Bangladesh in the 2nd Test raised eyebrows, but post Day 1 of the game, Umesh Yadav said that this is part and parcel of the game and something that every player has to go through.
"It's part of your journey. It happened to me also. Sometimes you are out of the team because of performance and sometimes it's a management's call. You have to go with the team's requirements," Umesh told reporters after the end of the first day's play.
Kuldeep was the player of the match in India's 188-run win against Bangladesh in the first Test with the left-arm wrist spinner returning with a match haul of eight wickets, besides scoring a useful 40 runs in the visiting team's first innings. But to everyone's shock, Kuldeep was left out for the second and final Test here as the Rahul Dravid-coached side opted for an extra pacer in Jaydev Unadkat.
"It's good for him (Kuldeep) that he came back and performed well (in the first Test in Chattogram)."
Spearheading the pace attack in the absence of Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh returned with figures of 15-4-25-4, while veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin also grabbed four wickets (21.5-3-71-4). Left-arm pacer Unadkat, who was playing the Test after more than a decade, justified his inclusion by giving the first breakthrough, dismissing last-match centurion Zakir Hasan with a delivery that came back into the southpaw.
"When he (Unadkat) made his debut, I was with him in South Africa. So, I'm very happy for him that he finally got his chance. He has performed well in the domestic season. When he came to bowl with the new ball, the ball was doing a bit, many balls took the nick of batter's gloves," he said of Unadkat who returned with day's figures of 2/50. We knew that Unadkat is used to bowling on these types of wickets and can swing it both ways. So he just had to keep bowling in the right areas and test the batters' patience," said Umesh.
It seemed to be an under-par total by the hosts but Umesh said they (Indian bowlers) have to keep bowling well. "In Tests, you can't just say a total. You have to keep bowling well. It's a good performance with the way the wicket is playing, odd ball turning, some keeping out. It was a good bowling show to keep them under 300."
Also Read: Jofra Archer ready for England comeback; here is when he will return to international action
Asked if the Indian bowlers had it easy against the Bangladeshi batters, he said,"No batting lineup is easy, you just can't come and get them out. Test cricket is the toughest format. You have to keep bowling and batting well. Test cricket is all about patience. "It's a 50-50 kind of wicket. It's not fully for the pacers or the spinners. Some of the balls are doing something and some are not. We have to be patient and bowl in the right areas. The odd ball is bouncing from the back of length," he said about the wicket."
At the end of Day 1, India were 19/0 after bowling Bangladesh out for 227.
