Less than two seasons after fast bowler Umesh Yadav first played with a leather ball, he was bowling against the likes of Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman in the Duleep Trophy. What makes his ascent even more remarkable is that he represents unglamorous Vidarbha in the Plate League of the Ranji Trophy. Yadav is the son of a coal-mine worker and was aiming to become a policeman. He only started considering a career in cricket as a 19-year-old, an age by which the best young Indian cricketers are in the running for a national cap.

As a fast bowler, he has many skills: he regularly bowls at over 140kph, moves the ball both ways, and has a pretty effective bouncer. These qualities helped him take 20 wickets at 14.60 in four games for Vidarbha in his debut season in 2008-09. While he made waves in the domestic scene, Umesh really caught the eye during IPL 2010, where he impressed a much wider audience with his pace for Delhi Daredevils. He finally broke into the big league, when he was flown to the West Indies as a replacement for the injured Praveen Kumar during the World Twenty20 tournament in May 2010, and earned his first call-up to the India Test team for the tour of South Africa in November the same year. He made the Test playing XI for the first time against West Indies in Delhi in November 2011, and picked up nine wickets in his first two Tests, which in turn earned him a place for the Australia tour.
Siddarth Ravindran