KKR head coach Brendon McCullum heaps praise on Umesh Yadav

Veteran Indian pacer Umesh Yadav has been breathing fire in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 as batters endured a hard time against him. The 34-year-old made the new ball talk in Kolkata Knight Riders’ first two fixtures against Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore respectively. He struck early in both games and even bagged the Player-of-the-Match award against CSK.

While KKR lost the rubber against RCB by three wickets, Umesh once again impressed one and all. So far, he has taken four wickets in two games with all his wickets coming in the powerplay overs. Needless to mention, the Knight Riders would want the speedster to continue his sensational run as the tournament progresses. Meanwhile, KKR head coach Brendon McCullum is mighty impressed with Umesh’s stellar show and he expressed the same after KKR’s defeat against RCB.

Umesh Yadav has done more than we could have asked for: Brendon McCullum

“Umesh Yadav has been simply outstanding. I was lucky enough to play with Umesh when I was still playing the game back then and I knew how good a bloke he was and how much of a talent he was, especially with hee new ball if there was assistance,” said McCullum while addressing the media.

McCullum further said that Umesh has been given the liberty to go for wickets instead of thinking about the run flow. “His brief is very much to try and take wickets for us. If he goes for a few runs, we don’t care, we just want to have the attacking mentality. In two games, he has done more than we could have asked for,” said the former New Zealand coach.

McCullum highlighted that the Vidharbha pacer might be in the latter stages of his career but is still fit and hungry. “I know he is closer to the end of his career. But he is still incredibly fit, very very driven and we see him as a huge asset for us, especially in the early stages of the tournament when the ball is still swinging and seaming,” added the 40-year-old.