Rise of Umesh Yadav - the best bowler of IPL we never saw

In the 2022 edition of Indian Premier League, Umesh Yadav has taken 8 wickets so far in his 3 matches with his IPL career-best average and economy of 7.38 and 4.92, respectively. He started this year with CSK by taking 2 wickets, and in the last night's concluded match against Punjab Kings, he remained 1 wicket short of a 5-wicket haul.

Registered huge IPL record in the last match against KKR

This season 34-year-old pacer is having his dream time with the new white ball. During the last match against Kolkata Knight Riders on 1 April 2022, Umesh Yadav registered an IPL record passing the likes of Sunil Narine, Lasith Malinga, and Dwayne Bravo. After his 4-wicket spell against Punjab Kings, he became the bowler with the most wickets against any team in IPL. He now has 33 wickets against Punjab Kings, which is the most by any bowler against any team in IPL. Following him is Sunil Narine with 32 wickets against Punjab Kings and Lasith Malinga with 31 wickets against Chennai Super Kings.

Kolkata Knight Riders coach Brandon McCullum said, "His brief is very much to try and take wickets for us. If he goes for a few runs, we don't care; we want to have the attacking mentality. In two games, he has done more than we could have asked for,"

Latest Purple cap holder of IPL 2022

Umesh Yadav has played for three franchises in the Indian Premier League and had the best season in 2018 with Royal Challengers Bangalore, where he managed to strike 20 wickets. From going unsold initially to producing career-best T20 figures, Umesh Yadav became the current Purple Cap Holder of the Indian Premier League 2022. He achieved this feat during the clash against Punjab Kings at Wankhede Stadium. 

"Umesh Yadav was not picked in initial auction rounds, and today he is one of the leading wicket-takers of the Indian Premier League. Moral: Trust yourself, even when no one else does," tweeted former Indian spinner Amit Mishra.

While the team is pleased and must be feeling powerful the way Umesh Yadav is bowling, fans, on the other hand, could not keep calm and were thrilled by the pacers' consistency in the three matches played so far. He has become another reason for Kolkata Knight Rider fans to watch matches from the first ball, as the belief he's going to strike early is high among fans. Fans will hope that Umesh Yadav continues his aggression and keeps the purple cap with him throughout the season.

Kolkata Knight Riders will play their next match against Mumbai Indians on 6 April, and it'll be a treat to watch if Umesh Yadav strike early in that powerful match as well.