'Plan was to frustrate WI batsmen with maiden overs'

After putting India in a commanding position, fast bowler Umesh Yadav has said it was the plan of the team to bowl as many maidens as possible and frustrate the West Indian batsmen in the opening Test at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua.

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West Indies were bundled out on 243 in their first innings and were asked to follow on after India declared innings on 566-8.

Besides Kraigg Braithwaite (74) and Shane Dowrich (57), none of the Caribbean batsmen was able to counter India's bowling attack for long and managed to contribute much in their side's innings.

"It is all about the planning. Before the game, we just planned that whenever we will go to the field, we will try to bowl only maiden overs. So, the plan was to see how many maiden overs we can bowl to frustrate the batsmen by not giving them easy runs and boundaries. We stuck to the plan and got the results," Yadav said at the post-match press conference.

While pointing out that the wicket was not good for the fast bowlers, the 28-year-old said India decided to stick to its plans and grab even the half chances that came before them.

"We had decided all of this before the match and there was not anything in the wicket for fast bowlers. So our effort was to bowl as many maiden overs as possible. Wind was also affecting our bowling, resulting in moving the ball a bit more sometimes. It was not reversing as well. So, we were discussing continuously as to what we should do. We decided to even grab half chances if they come to us. Because on such wickets a lot of hard work is needed and you need to hold even half chances, so we needed to grab them. If we don't, then wickets won't come and it would be difficult to take 20 wickets as the wicket would slow down even more," said Yadav, who bagged four wickets for 41 in West Indies' first innings.

Yadav was also full of praise for his compatriot Mohammad Shami, who also contributed four wickets for his side.

Describing Shami as a 'natural bowler', Yadav said the former has all the required qualities of a good bowler and, therefore, he doesn't need to be told where to bowl.

"Shami is a natural bowler. He might struggle during the injury but once he recovered he doesn't need to be told where to bowl. He is a smart bowler and he has outswing, inswing. He is bowling a good bouncer. He is a big bowler. I don't think there is a need to even compliment him. He is a very talented bowler and all of us in the group complement each other," he said.

At the end of the third day, West Indies were at 21-1, with Rajendra Chandrika and Darren Bravo remaining unbeaten at their respective scores of nine and ten.

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