Took a risk on the flat pitch, says Umesh Yadav

The second Test

The second Test against West Indies was a stressful one for the bowling department of India. Shardul Thakur got injured on debut, leaving Umesh Yadav with a massive workload.

Wonderful innings by #RostonChase. He’s got potential and should bat at no 5. Congratulations to @y_umesh for a fine bowling performance. True workhorse of the Indian bowling attack. pic.twitter.com/7nyEO6pIcw

— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) October 13, 2018

He had to toil endlessly- bowling 23 overs in four spells, with a pitch that had nothing to offer. In his own words, the wicket was flat and it was impossible to contain runs. The pitch did not offer conventional or reverse swing to Umesh. Yet, his struggles paid off, when he ended the day on 3/83, on this run-favoring pitch.

Yadav stated that in the given situation he was trying out something new, taking a risk. He did not focus on containing runs but on gathering wickets. On Shardul, Yadav said that being a spinner, he could have definitely chipped in with a few wickets to help the team. Yadav decided to shoulder the entire responsibility for the team.

Also read: Twitter congratulates Roston Chase for maiden away hundred 

The SG ball

Similar to what Virat Kohli thought before the match and what R. Ashwin felt after the Rajkot Test, Yadav too was not in the least impressed by the quality of SG-Test balls. He stated that in India, bowling with these balls on this kind of track neither gives pace nor bounce.

Virat Kohli criticises the quality of the SG ball, and prefers the Dukes for Test cricket pic.twitter.com/Bp0K6FihIo

— Chirag Patel18 (@ChiragVasani15) October 12, 2018

The option to use variations ends there and all one can do is bowl in one spot, with the ball neither swinging nor the pitch helping. This is massively beneficial to the lower order batsmen who take advantage of the fact that the ball has become soft and they try to score as much as possible.