Shubman Gill celebrates after Gujarat TItans’ victory in IPL 2024© AFP
Umesh Yadav kept his calm to bowl a brilliant final over of the match to guide Gujarat Titans to a narrow victory over Mumbai Indians in their opening match of IPL 2024 on Sunday. With 19 runs to defend, Hardik Pandya slammed the first two deliveries for a six and a boundary. However, Umesh came back strongly with two wickets in the next two balls which proved to be crucial for his side. The veteran fast bowler revealed that he received a lot of support from Gill as well as the team management despite conceding 10 runs in 2 balls. Gill also spoke to him and said that he was doing well.
“Actually, I was standing silently when Ashu pa said ‘You bowl the last over’. When I gave away two boundaries, Shubman came to me and said, ‘Don’t worry, you are doing well’. When the captain and support staff show belief in you, tough matches also seem easy and that works for me,” Umesh said.
“From what I saw, there was no use bowling outside the stumps, so I tried to bowl stump to stump. So, after two balls, I was back to basics,” the veteran fast bowler added.
Umesh also said that he was impressed by the maturity shown by Gill in his first ever match as a captain. The fast bowler explained that Gill will only mature with more matches as skipper and managed his bowling resources extremely well against a strong side like Mumbai Indians.
“It was his first match as captain, but the kind of maturity he showed and the way he has played, he was brilliant. He talked to everyone, made plans and knew about using his bowling resources. The more he plays, he will get more mature. He will be a brilliant captain,” Umesh concluded.
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