Sometimes you have to go with what's required: Umesh on Kuldeep's exclusion

Kuldeep Yadav's exclusion from India’s playing XI for the second and final Test against Bangladesh was the biggest talking point to emerge from day one but senior paceman Umesh Yadav said it was a “management call” to prefer Jaydev Unadkat over the left-arm wristspinner.

Kuldeep scalped eight wickets in the first Test and was named Player of the Match. He even scored crucial 40 runs in the first innings and helped India go past that 400-run mark. Former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar even went on to say Kuldeep’s exclusion was simply unbelievable.

"It's part of the journey. This has happened to me also. You perform and sometimes you are sitting out of the team. But it's good that he came back and did well in the previous match. It was a team management call. Sometimes you have to go with what's required. You see the wicket and then take a call,” said Umesh.

However, many people were also happy about Unadkat’s inclusion. The left-arm seamer, who made his Test debut in June 2010, made his return to Test cricket after 12 years and got two key scalps of Zakir Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim. 

"I was with him in South Africa when he made his debut. I am very happy for him, he got a chance after this long and performed well," Umesh said.

"When he started bowling, a lot of the deliveries were kicking, hitting the gloves. The plan was to bowl that length but after that the wicket settled. Unadkat is used to bowling on such wickets. He has done it for a long and in India wickets are like this. He has got both inswing and outswing."

Umesh himself claimed four wickets and so did R Ashwin as India bundled out Bangladesh for 227 on day one of the second Test. In response, India were 19 for no loss when the stumps were drawn. Talking about the surface, Umesh said: "It's a 50-50 wicket. It is not like it is fully for the pacers or spinners.

“Some balls are doing something and some are not. You have to be patient. One odd ball is kicking from back of length, and if you bowl full it is not swinging or doing anything. There is no pace. Ashwin too bowled with the new ball and some of the balls turned and after that with the softer ball not so much. It's doing in parts.

"When they settled and Mominul played like he did, getting more than three runs an over was still tough. So I think it was a good performance to get them for less than 300.”