Yash Thakur hails discarded Indian pacer as inspiration

Young Lucknow Super Giants pacer Yash Thakur created headlines when he took 5 wickets against Gujarat Titans to take his team to an improbable win. Thakur was menacing during his spell and did not allow any Titans batter to stay for long. He started with the big wicket of Shubman Gill. Thakur bowled a full ball on right on the stumps. Gill missed the ball while trying to flick it away and the ball crashed on to the stumps.

It was the start of a wonderful spell from the youngster. Thakur went on to pick up the wickets of Viijay Shankar, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, and Noor Ahmad to complete his five-wicket haul. He also seemed to be bowling quicker in this match which made the ball hurry on to the batters.

With star fast bowler Mayank Yadav leaving the field due to precautionary measure, Yash took it upon himself and dismantled Gujarat Titans' innings with his clever piece of bowling. It is a great sign for LSG's fast bowling unit which had lost overseas quicks like Mark Wood and David Willey before the season. Yash finished with 5/30 in 3.5 overs and picked up the last wicket of the innings as well.

Yash Thakur hails Umesh Yadav as inspiration

Yash Thakur plays his cricket from Vidarbha, a region which has recently played well in the Indian domestic circuit. On the eve of Ranji Trophy final held last month, Thakur hailed his inspiration Umesh Yadav, who is a stalwart of the region. While speaking to The Hindu, Yash recalled the time when he first met Umesh in VCA Stadium, Nagpur.

'After being selected for a camp, my first day at the VCA Academy, I met Umesh Bhaiya in person. I was in awe of him and wanted to follow into his footsteps while going on to play for India. But the first big dream was to bowl like him and bowl in tandem with him just once," Yash had said.

Thakur also remembered the time when Umesh Yadav walked up to him and encouraged him despite not having a great day.

"We ran through them on the first innings, he was unplayable but I went wicketless. He walked up to me, reminded me that the game is not over and told me to back myself. It helped and I picked four in the next match." Yash added.

Also read: Injury scare for Lucknow Super Giants pace sensation; leaves the field with side strain

Yash Thakur took up cricket seriously when he saw MS Dhoni lift the 2011 World Cup. He initially started keeping wickets like Dhoni. But his coach Praveen Hinganikar once saw him rolling his arm over by mistake and asked him to never wear keeping gloves again

Yash Thakur was hooked to cricket after watching MS Dhoni lift the World Cup and started keeping wickets. Once his coach Praveen Hinganikar saw him rolling his arm over by mistake and told him to never wear keeping gloves ever again. After that, he took up fast bowling and considered Umesh Yadav as his inspiration.

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