Making your Test debut for any nation is a remarkable enough feat as it is, but to do it for cricket-mad India, where 1.4 billion people are distilled into a representative XI, is perhaps even more impressive.
Yet, new Essex signing Umesh Yadav has played in the format not just once, but 57 times for his country since 2011, alongside 75 ODI appearances and almost 300 additional domestic matches in all formats.
Such a decorated career has enabled him to build quite the CV, and as he pulls on an Essex shirt for the County Championship run-in, this is a look through Yadav’s personal highlights, by the numbers.
310: the highest Test strike rate ever
Yadav holds the somewhat niche record of the fastest ever Test innings of at least ten balls, having struck 31 from that number of deliveries in October 2019 against South Africa in Ranchi.
Entering the fray at number nine with his side already in the comfortable position of 450-7, Yadav smoked both his first two balls, delivered by debutant George Linde, for six.
His next two balls in the subsequent over from Dane Piedt only went for one, but he made up for it when Linde began the over after that, striking a further three sixes in five balls before being caught.
India would go on to declare on 497-9 prior to bowling South Africa out twice for 162 and 133 to win by an innings and 202 runs.
India’s number 272
It is now just under 12 years since Yadav first made his bow in the Test arena for India, in the first match in a series of three against West Indies, but he will always be the 272nd man to play in the format for his country.
He debuted alongside Ravi Ashwin, who holds cap number 271, and his longevity is borne out by the fact that Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli are the only two to have played a Test this year who made their bows earlier.
Given that neither Kohli nor Pujara played in that West Indies match, Yadav and Ashwin are also the only two on the Indian side who did appear in it to still be plying their trade in Test cricket.
13th-most wickets in IPL history
In its’ 15-year history, some of the all-time greats of the game have spent time playing in the IPL, including the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, AB de Villiers, Virat Kohli, and Kane Williamson, to name but a few.
Yadav has dismissed all of them since making his debut in the competition in 2010, and he has taken a total of 136 scalps across spells with Delhi Daredevils/Capitals, Kolkata Knight Riders, and Royal Challengers Bangalore.
His best IPL figures of all time are 4/23, taken for the Knight Riders last year against the Punjab Kings, and in the overall charts, he is currently three behind Rashid Khan in 12th, and 14 off the top 10.
10/133: Yadav wounds Windies
Seven years after making his debut, Yadav’s best performance in the Test arena came in an encounter with the very same team, in Hyderabad.
Although the visitors were able to put up a competitive 311 all out in their first innings, it was Yadav who led the way for India’s bowlers as he took 6/88, including wrapping the innings up with two in two balls.
After India had eked out a lead of 56 following their first dig, he followed it up with 4/45 in the Windies’ second innings to set up a simple chase of 72 for victory, a task the hosts completed in 16.1 overs without losing a wicket.
That included taking another scalp, that of Kraigg Brathwaite, with his second ball, so – although the definition of a hat-trick might vary depending on who you ask – he was one delivery away from that feat.
18: a World Cup to remember
India may have fallen short of defending their title at the 2015 World Cup, but the tournament was still a particularly memorable one for Yadav individually.
He led the way for his country, claiming 18 wickets to sit third in the overall competition standings, behind only the 22 each taken by Mitchell Starc and Trent Boult, of joint hosts Australia and New Zealand, respectively.
Yadav grew into the tournament with seven in his first five games, before taking three against Zimbabwe in India’s final pool match and then ripping through Bangladesh in the quarter-finals with 4/31 from nine overs.
He claimed another four in a semi-final against Australia at the SCG, but in vain this time as the eventual champions progressed into the final.
53: Australia’s nemesis
Yadav’s four scalps in that semi-final, who were the rather impressive quartet of Aaron Finch, David Warner, Steve Smith, and James Faulkner, were, in all reality, just a drop in his ocean of success against the Aussies.
In addition to the 21 Australian wickets he has claimed in ODIs – second only to his 26 against the West Indies – and two in T20Is, he has taken 53 against them in Test matches, far clear of his record against any other nation.
In fact, he has claimed more scalps in Test encounters with Australia than against the next two highest countries combined, comfortably outstripping his 25 against the West Indies and 22 versus Bangladesh.
1 Champions Trophy
He may have missed out on the World Test Championship in his last match for India, but Yadav has still experienced success with his country, most notably winning the 2013 Champions Trophy.
He played in all five matches of the tournament, and after rain reduced the final, against hosts England, to a 20-over contest, he returned economical figures of 1/10 from two overs.
That helped India restrict England to 124-8, short of the 130 they needed to win, with that sole wicket being none other than Yadav’s now-teammate, Alastair Cook.
