India vs West Indies: Umesh Yadav credits Zaheer Khan for success in Caribbean

Umesh Yadav has credited ex-teammate Zaheer Khan for emerging as India’s most successful pacer in the 3-1 One-Day International (ODI) series win against the West Indies.

Yadav finished with seven wickets from four innings at an economy rate of 4.75. In the final ODI at Kingston on Thursday, Yadav claimed 3/53 as the West Indies were restricted to 205 for nine in their 50 overs.

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India breezed through to achieve the target with eight wickets and 79 balls to spare. Skipper Virat Kohli once again led from the front in the chase with a classy, unbeaten 111-run knock.

“I’m constantly learning from mistakes. You make mistakes as a youngster. But Zaheer bhai said one thing: when you are a junior and a newcomer in the team, the faster you learn about your mistakes, the better it will be for you; the faster you will learn. That’s what I try and do,” Yadav was quoted as saying by the BCCI website.

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“I sit and think about the mistakes I’ve made. Then I try and implement them in the next match. There are positives and negatives. I try and focus more on positive points... figure out what the strong and weak points are. That is what’s important as a fast bowler,” added the 29-year-old.

Zaheer has been Yadav’s mentor at Delhi Daredevils as well.

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Yadav revealed that he is trying to control the swing and his lengths to make himself more potent as a pace bowler.

“It’s because of speed that I’m here. Pace was my weapon, it’s given me recognition. Now, I’m trying to balance swing and the length with the pace. That will be helpful,” said Yadav.