Exactly a month ago, India's speedster Umesh Yadav claimed three Sri Lankan wickets at the Eden Gardens Test
Exactly a month ago, India's speedster Umesh Yadav claimed three Sri Lankan wickets at the Eden Gardens Test. Now, the right-handed pacer, who is currently going through physiotherapy sessions at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore ahead of India's tour of South Africa, will return to the venue to boost Vidarbha against Karnataka in the semi-finals of the Ranji Trophy starting today.
Umesh Yadav
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The Eden wicket is likely to be similar to the one for the first Test between India and Sri Lanka with a greenish tinge on it. This season Umesh played two Ranji Trophy games against Chhattisgarh and Services and claimed nine wickets. However, the other Yadav in the side - pacer Lalit, who earlier played crucial roles in Vidarbha's bonus point victories over Punjab and Bengal is missing from the important clash due to a hamstring injury.
First Ranji SF for Vidarbha
"Umesh will join the team today evening and will lead our attack against Karnataka in the semi-final," sources told mid-day on Saturday. Vidarbha will be playing in the Ranji semi-finals for the first time. Through Umesh's presence, the youngsters like Rajneesh Gurbani and Siddhesh Neral will undoubtedly be boosted. To counter Karnataka's bowling, Vidarbha need to depend on skipper and the season's second top run-getter Faiz Fazal (831), former Mumbai stalwart Wasim Jaffer, ex-Karnataka batsman Ganesh Satish and Sanjay
Ramaswamy.
Karnataka favourites
On the other hand, eight-time champions Karnataka will be hot favourites against Vidarbha. Karnataka, playing a semi tie after a gap of two seasons, have been the in-form team with captain R Vinay Kumar leading from the front. The way they pummeled Mumbai, who suffered only their fifth innings defeat ever in the tournament, underlined their aura of invincibility ahead of their last-four match.
- With inputs from IANS
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