India's batting coach Sanjay Bangar on Saturday termed Umesh Yadav, who has been providing the team with breakthroughs at crucial juncture, as "the most improved bowler" in the last one and half seasons.
While Umesh only picked two wickets today, his two morning spells split into nine overs was termed by Shakib Al Hasan as the finest ever he has faced in his Test career.
"Ever since the Delhi Test match against South Africa, we have seen him (Umesh) giving the breakthroughs that the team requires. So I think the reason for that many Test victories is not only the contribution of the spinners but the small contributions that the fast bowlers have made.
"That's why someone like Umesh stands out because I believe that he's the most improved bowler in the last season and a half," Bangar said.
Bangar said all three pacers got the ball to reverse.
"All our three seamers were able to get the reverse swing. But Umesh (stood out) with his pace and the lengths that he bowled. Bhuvi (Bhuvneshwar Kumar) can bowl the conventional swing but Umesh can swing the ball both ways. Again Ishant (Sharma) bowls slightly back of a length but Umesh's length allows him to swing the ball with the new ball and also with the old ball. He's worked a lot on his wrist positions and balance at the crease."
The former all-rounder praised skipper Virat Kohli and coach Anil Kumble's decision to have five bowlers which always keeps a team in the hunt for a decisive result.
"You need to give a lot of credit to how the captain thinks and how Anil thinks about it. It's very important that the bowling unit is developed in such a fashion that even when India tours overseas, spinners will have to play a particular role and role reverses for seamers, when they play in India," said Bangar.
With the likes of Umesh, Ishant and Bhuvneshwar getting prominent roles in home Tests, the situation has changed.
"You need to develop a bowling attack that gives you results in all conditions. That is the thinking that goes behind, showing faith in quicker bowlers," he said.
Indian batsmen back to narrow stance
Former India coach Duncan Fletcher had prescribed a wider stance for the Indian batsmen notably being Ajinkya Rahane but a lot of them have gone back to a "narrower stance" in order to play spin better, revealed batting coach Sanjay Bangar on Saturday.
Bangar indicated that Moeen Ali's performance during 2014 series in England was the start of the change.
Asked about change from wider stance during Fletcher era, Bangar said: "A lot of batsmen have gone back to narrower stance purely because mobility is a crucial aspect in batsmanship. You need to be ready to adjust to the variations of the pitch including quicker pitches and against the bouncers. That is a crucial factor," Bangar said at the end of the day's play here.