Umesh Yadav took 4/23 with the ball against Punjab Kings and helped KKR register a thumping win over the opponents in match 8 of IPL 2022. This win has taken KKR to the top of the points table. KKR have won two key matches early on in the season and have lost a game very narrowly against RCB.

After Umesh Yadav’s exploits with the ball, Andre Russell scored an unbeaten 70 off 31 balls to ease KKR past the finish line with 33 balls to spare. Russell hit eight sixes and two four in his innings taking the attack to the opposition.

Umesh’s wickets included that of Punjab skipper Mayank Agarwal, Liam Livingstone, Raj Bawa and Harpreet Brar as he showcased some brilliant bowling skills. His performance even got former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri impressed.

In a discussion with ESPN Cricinfo, Shastri spoke about how the veteran Indian bowler has improved as a white-ball bowler.

Umesh Yadav Is Bowling To A Plan: Ravi Shastri

“I Just felt his rhythm is good. I have just felt with Umesh over the years when he is running in with that rhythm you know it is coming out right. You can see he is confident, his body language suggests he knows what he is doing. He is bowling to a plan, gets the ball to shape away and when he is doing that he gets bthe odd ball to seam and take key wickets like how he got Agarwal out” said Shastri.

The former Indian head coach then spoke about how brilliantly Shreyas Iyer used his overs. The KKR skipper bowled him two overs inside the powerplay and one in the middle and one at the death. He picked wickets whenever he was given the ball by Shreyas.

” Umesh is handled beautifully by Shreyas Iyer. Two or three at the top, go for wickets, number seven, number 14 and you are done” said Shastri to round off his interaction.

Umesh Yadav was a late addition for KKR. The management added him to their squad ag=fter he went unsold on day 1 of the mega auction, KKR roped him in for his base price of 2 crores and it has been a good investment so far.

Also Read: KKR vs PBKS: Such A Relief To See Him Hit So Cleanly – Shreyas Iyer On Andre Russell