Veteran Indian pacer targets Indian T20 League to return to national team ahead of 50-over World Cup

As there are only a couple of days left for the upcoming season of the Indian T20 League, the tournament can bring out many opportunities for the young Indian players and also the players who are struggling to cement their place in the Indian Team. Players will be looking to give their best keeping in mind the upcoming 50-over World Cup that is scheduled to be hosted by India later in the year.

Indian pacer Umesh Yadav is one of the players who is aiming to make a comeback for the Men in Blues in ODIs in order to secure a place in India’s World Cup squad. Umesh has been India’s pace spearhead in Test cricket over the past few years. However, he is struggling to cement his spot in the limited-overs format. The 35-year-old said that he needs to perform well in the Indian T20 League in order to make a comeback in India’s ODI squad ahead of the World Cup as he feels that it can be his last tournament.

“The ODI World Cup is played after every four years and this can be my last opportunity to be a part of it. So I need to do well in IPL and make a comeback in ODI format,” Umesh told Aaj Tak in an interview.

‘I want to make this season count and not wait for another four years’ – Umesh

“As I said the World Cup comes after every four years and I’m not sure if I’ll be around then. Hence I want to make this season count and not wait for another four years,” he further added.

Umesh will be playing for the Kolkata franchise in the upcoming season. He had a pretty good outing in 2022 where he scalped 16 wickets from 12 matches with a decent economy of 7.06. His performance also earned him a place back in the home T20I series against South Africa and Australia. However, he played only one game out of six matches in both series.

The 16th edition of the Indian T20 League will kickstart on March 31st with an opening match between Gujarat and Chennai at the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad. Kolkata will begin their campaign with a match against Punjab on April 1st in Mohali.