Umesh Yadav returned to first-class cricket with a five-wicket haul for Punjab in their Ranji Trophy 2026/27 round one fixture against Assam at Mullanpur.
Umesh Yadav shines for Punjab with a five-wicket haul
The veteran India fast bowler showed glimpses of his peak as he made a return to first-class cricket from a two-year gap, having switched to Punjab ahead of the Ranji Trophy 2026/27 season. He had earlier spent 18 years with Vidarbha. Two weeks shy of turning 39, Yadav began this new chapter of his career with 5-70 in 24 overs to restrict Assam to 373.
Gurnoor Brar handed Punjab the breakthrough in the very first over of the match, after which Yadav bowled a peach of a delivery to knock over Rishav Das. A similar delivery a few overs later had Rajveer Singh caught at slip to reduce Assam to 22-3.
Yadav kept hitting that probing good length, middle and off stump line, and moving the ball sideways that he was known for, especially in home conditions.
Centuries from Denish Das and Sibsankar Roy helped Assam recover before Yadav cleaned up the tail to complete his 16th five-for in the format. He also sent down seven maiden overs in the innings.
Punjab responded to Assam's total with a strong start at 108 for no loss, with Vihaan Malhotra (65*) and Harnoor Singh (37*) stitching a solid partnership.
Yadav's last FC match before this came in October 2024 for Vidarbha. He missed the 2025 red-ball season, although he did feature in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
He has represented India in 57 Tests, and was at his lethal best between 2017 to 2019, where he picked up 74 wickets from 19 matches at an average of 22.28, 63 of which came in home conditions at 19.34 apiece. His last Test for India was three years back in the ICC World Test Championship final, where they lost to Australia. He managed just two wickets for 131 in the game, and was phased out afterwards.
Also read: Five wickets in 16 balls: Discarded India quick wreaks havoc with hat-trick in Ranji season opener
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