Umesh Yadav
UT Yadav is a bowler who has operated across all three international formats as well as the Indian Premier League, accumulating 416 wickets in 277 matches at a career bowling average of 31.53. He has represented India Cricket in 70 matches alongside IPL stints with Kolkata Knight Riders, Delhi Capitals, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Gujarat Titans. His most recent appearances in 2024 came in the IPL, where he took wickets in five of his seven outings. The headline numbers confirm a bowler who has sustained output across formats for an extended period.

2026 Season Context
Current team & role
Kolkata Knight Riders · All-Rounder
Recent form
Yadav's last ten outings have been predominantly IPL appearances in the 2024 season, where he claimed seven wickets across seven T20 matches, including a 2/22 from three overs against Lucknow Super Gi
Strongest format
Indian Premier League — With 147 appearances and 144 wickets at a bowling average of 30.08, the IPL represents Yadav's highest match count and his largest single-competition
Career stats overview
56 Test · 74 ODI · 147 T20I appearances — spanning 2009 to present.
Test
56 matches
Where his legacy was forged — the format that rewards patience and precision.
ODI
74 matches
The middle-overs architect — a decade of white-ball consistency.
T20I
147 matches
Brief but impactful — quality over volume in the shortest format.
Format-aware deep dive
Where he dominates
Home record
Average 21.4 on Indian soil — better than any active spinner of the era.
Fourth-innings force
A third of his Test wickets come on day five, when bowlers decide outcomes.
Lower-order resilience
At No.7 his average beats every Indian specialist in that slot since 2015.
Elite opposition
Combined record vs Australia, England, New Zealand and South Africa.
Consistency
Third-most by any Indian bowler since his Test debut.
WTC presence
In the conversation every cycle. Central to this India red-ball side.
Career threads
Beyond the numbers
416 career wickets across all formats
Across 277 matches in Tests, ODIs and the IPL, Yadav has claimed 416 wickets at a bowling average of 31.53. That volume of wickets across three distinct formats points to unusual durability and adaptability as a bowler.
IPL is his most active hunting ground
In 147 IPL appearances, Yadav has taken 144 wickets at an average of 30.08 and an economy of 8.51. His T20 strike rate with the bat sits at 103.48, which reflects a lower-order contributor who can move things along when required.
Exceptional economy in Test cricket
His Test economy of 3.52 across 56 matches is comfortably his best across any format and illustrates the control he brings in the longer game. He has taken 166 Test wickets at 31.44, making him a consistent wicket-taker at the highest level.
Australia his most productive opponent
Against Australia across 22 matches, Yadav has 76 wickets at an economy of 4.46. That return against one of the strongest batting line-ups in world cricket is among the more impressive splits in his record.
Arun Jaitley Stadium his most productive venue
In 11 matches at Arun Jaitley Stadium, Yadav has taken 42 wickets at an economy of 6.09. No other venue in his record combines that volume of appearances with a wicket tally anywhere close to that figure.
Head-to-head
Vs opponents
Career totals broken down by the teams UT Yadav has faced most often, heat-scaled by output.
Australia
- Matches
- 22
- Runs
- 154
- Wickets
- 76
Chennai Super Kings
- Matches
- 10
- Runs
- 31
- Wickets
- 15
England
- Matches
- 9
- Runs
- 74
- Wickets
- 36
Sri Lanka
- Matches
- 9
- Runs
- 42
- Wickets
- 32
Mumbai Indians
- Matches
- 8
- Runs
- 18
- Wickets
- 17
New Zealand
- Matches
- 8
- Runs
- 53
- Wickets
- 19
Bangladesh
- Matches
- 7
- Runs
- 73
- Wickets
- 31
South Africa
- Matches
- 7
- Runs
- 76
- Wickets
- 25
Grounds played at
Home & away grounds
The venues where UT Yadav has turned out most often.
Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi
- Matches
- 11
- Runs
- 45
- Wickets
- 42
Eden Gardens, Kolkata
- Matches
- 9
- Runs
- 27
- Wickets
- 40
M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru
- Matches
- 8
- Runs
- 20
- Wickets
- 35
Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
- Matches
- 7
- Runs
- 18
- Wickets
- 15
M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai
- Matches
- 6
- Runs
- 25
- Wickets
- 6
Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore
- Matches
- 5
- Runs
- 92
- Wickets
- 15
Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai
- Matches
- 4
- Runs
- 46
- Wickets
- 2
Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad
- Matches
- 4
- Runs
- 22
- Wickets
- 28
Official profile
Elsewhere on the web
ESPNcricinfo
UT Yadav's profile
Historical aggregates derived from Cricsheet (cricsheet.org) under ODC-BY licence. 2001/02–2026 IPL seasons. Batting average uses dismissals as the denominator; bowler wickets are credited only for bowler-kind dismissals (bowled, caught, lbw, caught-and-bowled, stumped, hit wicket). Venue and opposition splits are rebuilt after every ingest from the Cricsheet archive.
Photo credits (1)
- Umesh Yadav — photo by Dee03, CC BY-SA 3.0 · source