My game is improving every day: Umesh

He said after taking two wickets against England on Saturday in Mohali that the duo motivated him to bowl with a clear plan, which he felt worked in his favour at the IS Bindra Stadium.

Yadav, who regularly clocked past the 140 kmph-mark, first got rid of teenaged opening batsman Haseeb Hameed (9) and then bowled all-rounder Chris Woakes (25) with an almost unplayable delivery. 

Asked about his impact ball, Yadav said he believed in keeping the ball near the off and middle stump, which makes most batsmen vulnerable before they get their eyes set on the game. 

“My game is improving day by day. I have just been working on my line and length,” Yadav said at the postmatch presser. 

“Sanjay Bangar and Anil Kumble have been telling me to bowl with clear plans. The ball was swinging so I just wanted to hit the right areas.” 

“I thought the ball reversed in a little too much so I tried to take it away too, but that didn’t happen,” he added. 

Yadav, however, defended some of India’s poor fielding efforts, specially off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who dropped a simple catch off Alastair Cook and then leaked a few runs on the field. 

“Sometimes catches are dropped, but this is cricket. Sometimes your team-mates take good catches too.” 

“We have some of the best fielders in the team, be it in India or among all the cricket-playing countries, but dropping catches and misfielding are part and parcel of the game,” he said.