'When will you return home?'
Those were the only words uttered by Umesh Yadav's father, a coalmine worker in Nagpur, when he found that his son had been asked to join the Indian World Twenty20 team in the West Indies
Nitin Sundar
25-Feb-2013
Those were the only words uttered by Umesh Yadav's father, a coalmine worker in Nagpur, when he found that his son had been asked to join the Indian World Twenty20 team in the West Indies. The Indian Express traces the rise of India's latest fast-bowling sensation.
Four years ago, when Yadav hitched a truck ride to Nagpur from his village to play a game of tennis ball cricket, he wouldn’t have dreamt where the 25-km journey might take him. Packing his bags in a mad rush on Thursday, Yadav was in a daze. But those who know him were saying they always felt his raw, natural pace would fast-track him to international cricket.
“I have just collected my tickets from the Vidarbha cricket office, it still hasn’t sunk in. My parents are very excited but nervous as well. They are village people and have very little idea of the world outside. All my father asked was ‘When will you return home?’,” Yadav told The Indian Express after getting the most important call of his short cricketing career.
Nitin Sundar is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo