Yudhvir: a vital cog inJammu & Kashmir’s pace battery

Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer and Ajinkya Rahane are all batters with successful track records in international cricket. In his last two games against Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy, Jammu & Kashmir’s Yudhvir Singh has accounted for all these batters.

The 28-year-old, athletic and broad-shouldered as is typical of his fast-bowling tribe, may not have experienced the bright lights of international cricket. But by dismissing players of proven pedigree in First Class cricket, Yudhvir is certainly exhibiting that he has the tools to make further strides.

In January this year, J&K came up against Mumbai at the Sharad Pawar Cricket Academy in Bandra in a proverbial David versus Goliath battle. While the 42-time champion had as many as six players with international experience in its midst, Paras Dogra’s men were devoid of such high calibre. However, by the end, it were the J&K players who were rejoicing a five-wicket win – their second in a row over the domestic giant in India’s principal First Class competition. Much of the credit for the victory could be attributed to Yudhvir — he took four wickets in the first innings and three in the second to finish with a match haul of seven for 95 and claim the player-of-the-match award.

In mid-October, in Srinagar’s quaint but highly-guarded Sher E Kashmir Cricket Stadium, Yudhvir was Mumbai’s nemesis with the ball once again. Never mind J&K not getting over the line on this occasion – it went down by a narrow margin of 35 runs on a nerve-wracking final day – Yudhvir played his part to a large degree in keeping the host in the contest until the dying stages by taking a five-for in the first innings to restrict Mumbai to 386. In the list of batters that he dismissed were Rahane, Ayush Mhatre, Shams Mulani, Tanush Kotian and Shardul Thakur.

The opening day of the Ranji encounter hadn’t begun auspiciously for the fast bowler. In his first six deliveries, he had conceded 12 runs. But a change of ends and a word of encouragement from his teammates enabled Yudhvir to regain his poise and go about his work. In a short span, he had the prodigiously talented Mhatre and the widely experienced Rahane in his kitty with deliveries that deviated off the pitch and took the outside edge.

“I just focus on my bowling. Sometimes, runs will be leaked. You shouldn’t pay too much attention to that,” Yudhvir threw light on his mindset in a chat during the Ranji fixture in Srinagar. “Even when runs are conceded, you should always think of coming back strongly. And when I got a second spell, I focused on putting the ball on one spot and being in rhythm. I did that and got wickets.”

To get the better of Rahane, a man with 85 Test caps under his belt, pleased Yudhvir in particular. “My deliveries were moving well. And he had been beaten a couple of times. I just kept bowling the ball on that length. From there, it moved and took the edge,” Yudhvir said with a gleeful smile.

India-A call-up

It is performances like these that have prompted the national selectors to promote Yudhvir into the India A set-up. A few weeks ago, Yudhvir, who has represented Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the Indian Premier League, played two 50-over matches for the Shreyas-led India A against Australia A in Kanpur. Though he scalped just one wicket and conceded 72 runs in 6.4 overs across the two outings, it offered a valuable learning experience. Apart from bowling to Australian internationals like Jake Fraser-McGurk and Cooper Connolly, there was also the perk of sharing a dressing room with the likes of Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana.

“India A was a very good experience. A few players had come in after playing the Asia Cup. There was a lot that I got to learn,” he reflected. “Bowling to the Aussies and playing at a higher level, you are able to absorb a lot. And there are many to teach you as well. The coaches and senior players do come and share tips.”

Greater attention on J&K

Yudhvir’s rise has coincided with J&K’s progress in the cricketing establishment. In September, Mithun Manhas, who was Director of Cricket Operations at the Jammu & Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA) after retiring as a player in 2017, was unanimously elected to the post of BCCI president at its 94th Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Mumbai.

While performance remains paramount in India’s highly competitive environment, Yudhvir finds motivation in knowing that his numbers are being noticed by the men who matter. When he was picked in the North Zone squad for the season-opening Duleep Trophy in August, he was one of five J&K players in the 15-member contingent. National selector Ajay Ratra was present for the fixture between J&K and Mumbai in Srinagar.

“Yes, absolutely,” Yudhvir replied when asked whether the performances of J&K players are catching the eye more than ever before. “With Mithun sir’s arrival, J&K cricket has changed a lot. Everyone is getting opportunities.

“We used to get it earlier as well, but we didn’t get as many opportunities. Now, even the national selectors are coming to see us. Last season, S. Sharath was the selector who came to see the match against Services where I took eight wickets. Then there was the match against Mumbai. I did well in that as well. There has been a lot of backing from Mithun sir and the coaches. That is when a team does well. Earlier, if we didn’t do well in one or two matches, there would be pressure and we would be out of the team. But the situation has changed for the better.”

If not for Manhas, J&K may have actually lost Yudhvir to Hyderabad. While the six-feet tall quick represented the under-19 team of J&K, his Ranji Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy debuts came for the southern team in the 2019-20 season.

“I had gone to Hyderabad to give trials for the Army and get into the Services team. I bowled well there. There is regular league cricket in Hyderabad. I scored 365 runs and took 15 wickets in five matches,” Yudhvir recounted. After that, I played for the Hyderabad under-23 side. Ambati Rayudu saw me there. He supported me. So, I ended up playing Ranji Trophy there. I played one season of Ranji and two seasons of T20 for Hyderabad.”

But with Manhas keen to bolster the J&K outfit after taking charge, the Jammu lad was brought back home ahead of the 2022-23 season.

Yudhvir’s prominence has been aided by the fact that he is part of an in-form pace attack also featuring the highly-promising Auqib Nabi and Umar Nazir. In J&K’s run to the Ranji quarters last season, the trio fired collectively and shared 87 wickets. Nabi was also picked in North Zone’s team for the Duleep Trophy this year and made headlines by claiming four scalps in four deliveries against East Zone in Bengaluru. In the recent game against Mumbai, Nabi snared a five-for as well before going on to claim a match haul of 10 for 53 in a crushing win against Rajasthan in the second round.

“See, last season as well, we all bowled collectively and backed each other,” assessed Yudhvir. “Sometimes, someone might not get a wicket and not bowl that well. But we keep backing each other as a pace attack. That’s how we operate. Even if somebody concedes runs in a spell, we are there to support him and tell him that he will come back well in the next spell.”

Strike bowler

As a quick bowler who is around the 140 km/h mark consistently, Yudhvir’s role in the team is to land frequent breakthroughs. “I should get wickets for the team. That is my mindset,” he stated.

It is possible to do, as he has understood, only when the right length is consistently hit.

“I used to bowl short of good length. But by playing regularly in the Ranji Trophy, my length has improved,” he observed. “I can now consistently hit the good-length area. Bowling in Ranji teaches you a lot. In white-ball cricket, you can alter your length. But with the red ball, you have to consistently bowl in one area to get wickets. It came into my game last year, and I got wickets as well.”

If Yudhvir has come into his own only over the past year or so, it may be because of his relatively late start. Belonging to a region where state-of-the-art facilities and a pathway aren’t readily available, he played cricket with a tennis ball without any thought of taking up the game seriously until his late teens.

“I was 19 when I started playing with the leather ball,” he informed. “Before that, I played tennis-ball cricket for 2-3 years. My friends used to push me to give trials, but I kept doubting myself and kept thinking about how I’m going to get selected as I didn’t know what was the right way to go about it. Coming from a middle-class family, my father wanted me to focus on my studies. But my sisters backed me, they used to keep telling my father to let me play.”

Once he overcame his jitters and attended the trials, he was on the right track.

“First time I went to the trials, I got selected in the under-19 team. In my first match, I took five wickets against Mumbai. But I did not have any idea about how to pace myself. I bowled well, but got really tired as it was the first four-day match I was playing,” he remembered. “I learnt a lot from that experience. Since then, I haven’t turned back.”