Royal Challengers Bangalore don’t rely only on Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers: Umesh Yadav

Royal Challengers Bangalore fast bowler Umesh Yadav dismissed the notion that the team relies solely on superstar batsmen Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers to win matches in the Indian Premier League.

Kohli and de Villiers form the backbone of RCB’s batting lineup with the captain even shuffling up and down the order according to the needs of the team during IPL matches.

Kohli is the highest scorer in the league’s history with 5412 runs, all of which he has amassed only for RCB since the very beginning of the IPL in 2008. De Villiers is 2nd behind Kohli with 3724 runs at an average above 41.

Both are the most experienced players in the team and have forged a superb rapport with each other on and off the field over the years. But that doesn’t mean that the team relies on them to outsmart opponents, according to Umesh.

“People will say we rely on them, they have won us numerous games as well. But if you see last year’s final match, Gurkeerat Mann and Shimron Hetmyer won us the match so obviously we don’t only rely on 2 players.

“There are 11 players in the team, if we only rely on 2 batsmen then why will the others play? Everybody contributes in the team, AB and Virat do a little more than others that’s fine, but they are doing their best which is good for the team,” Umesh Yadav told India Today in an exclusive interview.

Umesh also shed light on playing IPL this year in empty stadiums in the United Arab Emirates due to the coronavirus pandemic. Umesh said he knows how it feels to play in empty stadiums, having featured in numerous games for Vidarbha in the Ranji Trophy in which very few people came to watch the action on field.

“I haven’t experienced that here till now but I have played a lot of Ranji Trophy matches in empty stadiums so I know how it feels, I’m ready for that. I’m coming here after playing quite a few Ranji games so I know how to cheer myself up when playing in an empty stadium.

“It is important to keep yourself on top. That will be very important, how a team keeps itself on top despite playing without any support from the fans,” Umesh said.

IPL 2020 will be played across 53 days between 8 teams from September 19 to November 10 in Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi. The tournament was originally scheduled for March 29 but the coronavirus pandemic forced its postponement.