Will tackle saliva ban once practice starts: Umesh Yadav

Speaking to IANS, Umesh throws light on how he has kept himself motivated in the lockdown, the lessons he learnt under M.S. Dhoni that he now implements under Kohli, the need to start cricketing action with the Indian Premier League and most importantly, how he will work towards swinging the ball after the ICC implemented the saliva ban keeping an eye on the coronavirus pandemic.

Known to make the old SG ball talk on placid Indian wickets, does the saliva ban worry Umesh? The pacer is confident of finding a way out once he hits the training ground.

"Yes, it will be difficult to suddenly start playing without the saliva. We haven't started practising yet, once I get on the ground and practice playing without the use of saliva only then I will know how effective it is. With the old ball it's still okay, but with the new ball, I don't know how much it will shine minus the saliva.

"As the white ball swings for a less time, so for T20s it's okay. But the main problem will be when we will play Test matches. If we can't use saliva then we will have to think of new techniques to make the ball swing. Once practice starts only then we will know how to tackle it," he pointed.

The players are currently training indoors and Umesh says that at times during the lockdown, he has had phases when he wanted to be lazy and skip the routine. However, he didn't let his mind get distracted and went on with the schedule. IANS