The son of a coal miner, Umesh took to the game only at the age of 19. Blessed with an innate ability to bowl fast, he soon debuted for Vidharbha (in 2008) and found himself bowling to some of the big names in Indian cricket on the Ranji circuit. At IPL 2010, he proved to be one of the better bowling resources for the Delhi Daredevils, giving away runs at a relatively frugal economy rate of 7.66.

Umesh’s best year, though, was 2010, when he made his ODI debut against Zimbabwe and was also chosen to be part of the Indian Test squad to tour South Africa.