Playing and dreaming about cricket expensive for someone who lived in coal mines: KKR pacer Umesh Yadav

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) pacer Umesh Yadav has made a stunning comeback in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022. Umesh has delivered consistent performances with the ball in KKR's first three matches of the season and is currently the leading wicket-taker of IPL 2022 with 8 wickets from three games so far.

Umesh, who had played only two matches in the last two seasons of IPLhaving been written off by many as a T20 bowler, has been absolutely sensational for KKR this year. The 34-year-old, who is also a regular for the Indian team in Tests, recently opened up on his journey to realising his dream of playing cricket for India.

It was not an easy journey for Umesh, who comes from a humble background. Umesh was born in Nagpur city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and his father used to work in coal mines. Opening up on the initial struggles in his cricketing career, Umesh said he comes from a place where dreaming about playing cricket is an expensive one for youngsters.

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"From where I belong, there will be very few boys who believe that they could play for India. Playing and dreaming about cricket was expensive for them. Kit, bat, pad, shoes, etc. you just can't do it because you live in coal mines, your father goes to coal mines and does hard work. At that time I had never thought I would play for India as it was beyond my imagination," Umesh said in a video posted by KKR.

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Umesh, who made his debut for Team India in the year 2010, was the leading wicket-taker for the Men in Blue in the 2015 ODI World Cup. Umesh picked up 18 wickets in the tournament to help India reach the semi-finals. However, he soon was dropped from the white-ball sides and was labelled a red-ball specialist by many.

Umesh said it was difficult for him to come to terms with the fact that he was dropped from India's white-ball teams despite his splendid performances during the 2015 ODI World Cup. The 34-year-old also struggled in the IPL over the last couple of years but has bounced back well this year.

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"After we won the title (with KKR) in 2014, the next big moment for me was the 2015 World Cup. The kind of wickets that I got, I was the highest wicket-taker for India. So the real journey in white-ball cricket started from there," said Umesh.

"I feel bad when there was a downfall in my career and when I was in and out of the Indian white-ball team. People labelled me as someone who is not a white-ball bowler. I felt bad that how so much changed suddenly, at one point I was India's leading wicket-taker of the 2015 World Cup. But it's okay, it's life, it goes on," he added.