India vs South Africa 2019: 3 decisions that paid off for India in the Test series

#2 Replacing Hanuma Vihari with Umesh Yadav

Umesh Yadav

Hanuma Vihari had a fabulous series against West Indies where he scored 289 runs in four innings at an average of 96.33, including his maiden Test hundred. After such impressive numbers, he was thought to have cemented his place in the Indian middle order.

However, keeping in mind the assistance that the Pune pitch could provide to the pacers, India decided to go with an extra fast bowler in the second Test and dropped the in-form Vihari - drafting in Umesh Yadav instead.

Umesh immediately got into the act and ran through South Africa's top order, pushing them to the backfoot. After troubling the South African batsmen with his pace and accuracy in the first innings (3/37), the Indian speedster took another three wickets in the second innings (3/22) to give India their second victory of the series. In the process, he also retained his place in the playing XI for the third and final Test.

Umesh continued his purple patch at Ranchi too, scalping 5 wickets in the match (3/40 in the first innings and 2/35 in the second innings) and helping India sign off the with a clinical innings victory. He also set a record with the bat as he hit George Linde for five sixes, scoring 31 runs off just 10 balls at a strike rate of 310 - the highest for any innings lasting 10 balls or more in Tests.

Umesh's performance with the ball in the last two matches never let India feel the absence of an extra batsman.