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Ranji Trophy: Once a javelin thrower Vidarbha pacer Lalit Yadav credits Umesh Yadav for his success

Once a javelin thrower Lalit Yadav is now a match-winning speedster for Vidarbha, dreams of playing for Team India.

By Sujata Sarkar
Ranji Trophy: Once a javelin thrower Vidarbh pacer Lalit Yadav credits Umesh Yadav for success

New Delhi, Nov 13: In his childhood, he used to dream of representing India in Olympics as a javelin thrower. During that time Lalit Yadav was a serious javelin thrower.

He was representing his state Vidarbha in the national championships and earning medals. But as time progressed, Lalit started pursuing a different sport, cricket.

On Sunday, Lalit had a thumping performance with the ball (3/16) that helped Vidarbha demolish Bengal in the crucial group league match in Ranji Trophy at Kalyani.

The 20-year-old fast bowler seemed happy with his match-winning effort and did not forget to reveal, “I also used to play badminton. Prakash Padukone was my hero. I had even earned a medal in the game by winning juniors state championship.”

Still, Lalit turned to become a fast bowler, thanks to India pacer Umesh Yadav.

Lalit said, “Umesh Yadav’s bowling inspired me a lot. I used to visit Vidarbha State Indoor practice centre quite often, just to watch Umesh bowl at such a speed. After watching him bowl, I also started dreaming of being called as a speedster, just like Umesh.”

Lalit added, “I was lucky to have former Indian fast bowler Subrata Banerjee in Vidarbha cricket academy. My grooming was perfect. It helped me a lot to succeed in the MRF trials.”

Lalit had also a tendency to be a fast bowler right from the beginning. He revealed, “Javlelin helped other ways in this sphere. My delivery and shoulder action had already been wide and powerful after having practised throwing Javelin since childhood. So, it became quite comfortable for me to deliver at a speed of 138 or 140 kilometres per hour in the MRF trials and in the nets of Vidarbha state cricket trials.”

Lalit, son of a former Indian Air Force officer, also disclosed he gets in regular touch with Umesh Yadav.

"Whenever Umesh Bhayia comes to Nagpur or even if he's not in the city, I am in constant touch with him. I take a lot of suggestions from him.”

Lalit’s dream is to don India shirts and earn the ability to bowl at 140 kilometres constantly.

Story first published: Monday, November 13, 2017, 16:16 [IST]
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