For five years, Yash Thakur has been groomed as Umesh Yadav’s understudy. On Sunday, playing his maiden Ranji Trophy final, Yash, the protege, overshadowed the master to help Vidarbha bowl Mumbai out for 224.
Yash, bowling first-change, broke the 81-run opening stand with a fuller one that jagged away to kiss opener Bhupen Lalwani’s edge and rested in Akshay Wadkar’s gloves. He came back after lunch to break the back of Mumbai’s lower-order, dismissing Shams Mulani and Tanush Kotian.
With Umesh being around the team for almost the whole season, the likes of Yash, Aditya Thakare and Darshan Nalkande have excelled in his tutelage. But Yash cannot forget the first time he met him, at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Academy in Nagpur during his under-16 days.
