Umesh Yadav recalled to India ODI team: The 30-year old Indian pacer has made his way back into the ODI team.

Fast bowler Umesh Yadav has been named in the Indian team for the first two ODIs against Windies as a replacement for Shardul Thakur. The 27-year old pacer had suffered a right adductor tendon injury while bowling his second over in his debut Test against Windies at Hyderabad.

Although his coming out to bat in the first innings was an utterly brave effort, he didn’t resume his bowling duties in the match. Thakur has not been able to regain fitness on time. Thus, has been ruled out of the series.

On the other hand, Yadav has gained a deserving reward for his spectacular 10-wicket haul in the second Test.

Yadav was picked ahead of Siddarth Kaul and Deepak Chahar, both of whom were part of India’s victorious Asia Cup campaign. With Mohammad Shami also making an ODI comeback after a year, going back to senior bowlers seems to be the Indian selectors’ ploy ahead of the ICC Cricket World Cup.

In ODIs, Yadav had last played for India during their tour of England earlier this year. However, three wickets in two matches at an average of 44.30, an economy rate of 6.70 and a strike rate of 39.6 didn’t help him in sealing a spot for the Asia Cup.

Earlier, Yadav had agreed that he hadn’t performed in limited-overs cricket as well as the team would have wanted him to. That being said, he believed that he can still become India’s No. 3 bowler in ODIs.

During a press conference after routing Windies 2-0 in the Test series, India captain Virat Kohli had suggested at Yadav pressing a strong case to play in Australia. With the team management and the selectors supporting him and with the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 closing in, Yadav would be looking to seal his ODI spot this time round.

In the 73 ODIs that he has played for India, he has picked up 105 wickets at an average of 32.60, an economy rate of 5.97 and a strike rate of 32.7.

India’s squad for the first two ODIs

Virat Kohli (Captain), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Ambati Rayudu, Manish Pandey, MS Dhoni (wicket-keeper), Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Khaleel Ahmed, Umesh Yadav

Read some of the recent Twitter reactions on Yadav below: