Umesh Yadav's spell is the best I have faced in my Test career, claims Shakib Al Hasan

What’s the story?

Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan has lavished praise on Indian fast bowler Umesh Yadav’s impressive spell on the third day of the one-off Test at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.

At the end of the day’s play, Shakib claimed, “There was nothing much in the pitch. Because we play in (Kolkata Knightriders) KKR (in the IPL), I know him (Umesh) very well. Probably, this was the best spell I have faced in my Test career. He was moving the ball both ways and some of the deliveries were unplayable. The best I could do was to hit the deliveries that I could and the ones I couldn’t, I tried not to nick it. I was lucky that I survived that spell.”

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When asked about his on-field response to Yadav’s blistering spell, the left-hander insisted that he ‘played with soft hands’ to prevent the edges from carrying to the fielders behind the stumps.

In case you didn’t know...

On a benign surface, India won the toss and amassed a mammoth total of 687 before declaring with four wickets in hand. The visitors began rather shakily with opener Soumya Sarkar feathering an inside edge to wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha and Tamim Iqbal getting himself run out as a result of indecisive running between the wickets.

The heart of the matter

Things soon turned from bad to worse for Bangladesh when a sharp delivery from Umesh trapped Mominul Haque in front of the stumps. With the scoreboard reading 64/3, the experienced Shakib joined Mahmudullah at the crease in the hope of reviving the innings.

What followed was a relentless battle between bat and ball which embodied the magnificence of Test cricket. Getting the ball to reverse much sooner than anticipated, Umesh challenged Shakib by operating at serious pace. The southpaw played and missed plenty of times but somehow managed to survive the stifling spell. The Vidarbha pacer’s precise lengths added to the batsman’s dilemmas.

What’s next?

Upon seeing off the uncomfortable spell, Shakib settled down and looked at ease against the spinners. He put on 107 runs for the fifth wicket with skipper Mushfiqur Rahim. However, he suffered another characteristic rush of blood and succumbed to the wiles of Ravichandran Ashwin. A promising innings came to an end at just eighteen runs short of three figures.

Sportskeeda’s Take

Shakib’s endorsement highlights the difficulty of facing Umesh when he gets his radar spot on. Even though the speedster ended the third day as the pick of the bowlers with two wickets to his name, he could have had a lot more with a bit of good fortune.