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We all love success stories don't we? The cricket romantic in us yearns for those fairytale journeys of youngsters who were scouted from the slums – the 'before' and 'after' pictures do seem to provide a closure of some sort. Hailing from Nagpur, the son of a coal-miner had a family to feed and pursued a career as a police officer. After several failed attempts in the police force and the army, a teen-aged Umesh Yadav turned to cricket in a desperate attempt to make ends meet. Coinciding with the IPL era, young Umesh was a hot favourite among the franchises for his pace and made his debut in the 2010 edition. Yadav finally got his ODI debut against Zimbabwe the same year but he did not make an impression. On a selection whim, he was named in the squad for the tour to South Africa in December 2010 but had to wait for that coveted Test cap for almost another year, as he made his Test debut at home against the West Indies, becoming the first Test cricketer from Vidarbha. He bagged nine wickets in his first two Tests against the men from the Carribbean, and impressed with the SG ball. However, tougher Tests lay ahead as the rookie pacer was picked for the tour to Australia in December 2011. He was roped in by the selectors for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia in 2014/15 due to the lack of options in terms of fast bowling. Yadav exhibited his potential and penetration with 11 wickets across the last 3 Tests. He was, however, more inconsistent than ever, conceding 45 runs in 3 overs in the final Test in Sydney. Although several of his more expensive spells have been that way due to India's largely incompetent slip catching, contemporary cricket is a game of numbers, and as Alan Wilkins so eloquently put it, 'There's no point in being unlucky'. Yadav had to figure out a way to pick up wickets without the assistance of the fielders. IPL through the years Umesh Yadav has had some very loyal franchises supporting him. First though it was Delhi Daredevils who spotted the raw talent and roped in the speedster for the 2010 season, where Umesh played a handful of games and the figures were also not very impressive. He missed out in 2011 before returning with a bang in 2012 - 19 wickets at 23 and the fourth highest wicket taker. He had another good spell with the country's capital franchise before moving to Kolkata Knight Riders in 2014. Umesh went there and immediately won the IPL, his contribution being 11 wickets. With the changing nature of the Eden Gardens surface, the India pacer went on to become a crucial member of the KKR team. In his time with Kolkata, Umesh picked up 48 wickets - still the fourth highest in the franchise's history.
