...if at all my husband's third eye opens in anger,
...everyone in our home switches to playing on the backfoot.
Actually, I don't get angry easily.
But when it's an extreme situation,
...I get angry and then,
...if I have to say something to anyone,
...I feel like...
...I don't want to talk, I just want to punch them.
That's the situation.
So, it is better at the time,
....that I don't talk to anyone, and no one should talk to me.
Cricket is the one thing for me,
...that I have lived for,
...and continue to.
So I feel like this is,
...a part of my life.
I am incomplete without it.
Fast bowling has given my name,
...an identity.
Who is Umesh Yadav?
When it is in my hand,
...I am very happy,
...and feel like...
I'm in a
...different world.
The young Bablu growing up in Khaparkheda,
...he would've been very naughty!
Tell us some of his stories 
Not Khaparkheda, Valli.
In Valli…
We were so naughty that we wouldn't sleep at all at night.
We would go and steal the mangoes from the orchards.
And what would happen?
We'd come back,
... "How many mangoes did you bring?"
We'd say, "We didn't see any there!"
They'd say what amazing guys you are.
There was a river close to home in WCL.
By that river,
...we'd eat, you know the thing… they call it dangre in Maharashtra?
-Ok. 
-With the excuse of going to bathe in the river,
...we'd steal those too.
The keeper would come after us, hurling abuses!
Screaming.
I was very naughty.
Yeah.
But like they say, just like everyone, he too had dreams of his own.
Because where he was staying,
...the boy felt that,
...he had the ability to go further in life.
 But! That young Bablu,
...would run away from studies.
This Umesh was growing up and getting smarter.
I figured out that I wouldn't ask for money at home.
I wouldn't get it in any case.
I wanted to buy spikes for myself,
...and other important things,
...I needed a bat, a pad, where would it come from?
For that, no matter how hot it was,
...I would play. I'd play three matches a day.
That was the period of struggle for me.
The way I have...
...given my game the time and understood it,
...it taught me life lessons.
I learnt what it is to stay hungry,
...and what the value of money is.
When did your ordinary life become extraordinary?
Even I didn't see it coming!
While playing tennis ball cricket...
...in the narrow streets,
...roaming around with my friends,
...I reached this level and this platform.
Do you feel scared?
Actually,
The guy who...
...is superficial about his work,
...he is the one who's scared.
The one who climbs from the bottom to the top,
...he is never scared.
Because I know that...
...if I fall from here, I know how hard the ground is.
I have risen from there.
But when you...
...held this for the first time,
...what did you feel?
When I first grasped it,
...I felt that...
...is this really a ball?
People play with this thing?
Seriously?
Because, the place that I have come from,
...I had never even held this.
I had only seen it on TV.
But to even hold this, I have gone through a lot.
When I first entered this ground,
...someone had seen me play.
They said, "There's this boy,
...playing T20 matches here,
...his yorkers are so fast,
... you can't even see them whiz past."
Once they heard that,
...the secretary here,
...at that time,
...he called me.
He said,
..."You play for the district level at Vidarbha,
...will you play for Nagpur?"
I said, "Of course!,
I play with a tennis rubber ball,
...if I get the chance, of course I'll play!
I am a cricketer after all."
That was the first time I entered this ground,
...and played this wicket.
I took eight wickets here,
...and people noticed me.
Coaches saw me.
They said that,
...I should be enrolled in the summer camp.
Put him in the...
...camp of 30.
He has potential.
When I got to the camp,
...I can never forget that day.
That day I felt,
...I should leave cricket.
When I entered the ground,
...I walked in,
...and the coach there,
...he asked my name first.
I said, "Umesh."
He said, "Shoes?"
I said, "I don't have spikes, these are all I have."
 The way he scolded me!
 He said, "You've come to be a bowler without shoes?
Don't you know you need spikes and this and that,
How are you even here,
when you don't know what spikes are?"
He told me to leave.
That day I felt so bad!
I thought I should quit.
Then my friends said,
"If you think of quitting,
...every time something happens,
then you'll lose this chance as well."
Then I thought about it,
...and decided to let it go.
Another thing you should know,
...that when I was selected for Ranji Trophy,
...even for that there were fights.
Because I had never played under-age cricket,
...so when selection started,
...our captain at that point,
Pritam Gandhe,
...he was fighting for my spot.
He said that he's seen me in the nets,
...and I'm a good fast bowler.
My coach,
...the same one who told me to leave,
...for not having spikes,
...he was our Ranji Trophy coach too.
He said,
"He's fast, but he's raw,
...we don't know how he'll do.
Ranji Trophy is a big platform,
...we don't know what he'll do,
...he's very wayward."
Still Pritam said, "Whatever it is,
...I am the captain and I want him."
In life, you always need someone's support,
...and at that time,
...my captain supported me,
...because of which I played 4 matches,
...in which I took 20 wickets.
I was even selected for the Duleep Trophy.
Before Ranji season started,
...I had applied to join the Police.
Yes! Tell us that story?
My physicals went well,
...and I had my written exam after that,
...I appeared for it,
...which I cleared, and then was the interview.
Before I could go, I got a call,
...from Vidarbha, that I have been selected.
I got confused after that.
I thought, "I've been selected,
but I don't know if I'll get to play."
My friend at the time told me that...
...this is also an interview.
Both things are the same.
He told me that not everyone gets these chances.
You have got a chance,
...give it a try.
You can try for Police Forces later.
So when I got to the camp,
...I must have been 20-21 years old,
...when I saw this ball,
...and started playing,
...I hadn't even touched it before.
This is how I started and ended up here.
Even I didn't realise how far I've come.
When I look back,
...and I want to look back,
...to remind myself where I've come from.
So this boy named Umesh,
...completely unknown...
...outside Nagpur...
...and in front of you is Dravid,
...and Laxman at the Duleep Trophy game.
What do you remember?
I remember after I...
...took those 20 wickets...
...and the team was being formed,
...Advani sir had told me,
"Umesh, you are about to be selected...
...and you will play too."
When he said that,
I was so excited,
 ...that I was going to play the Duleep Trophy.
I don't know what will happen there, but at least I'm through.
Hmm.
But when I went there,
...and saw the team,
...in which Rahul bhai and Laxman,
...everyone was playing,
-Hahahaha.
I was terrified!
I didn't know that under that kind of tension and pressure,
...I would be able to bowl a good spell.
I grabbed a 5-wicket haul.
Everything changed after that.
After that haul, everyone knew...
I have taken 5 wickets in the South Zone...
...against such a big team,
...with Rahul and Laxman, and got everyone out.
Everybody was talking about me...
..."Umesh Yadav, the fast bowler is here."
Then I got confident about myself.
"I can do this, I can play."
I got a call after that.
Dinesh Karthik,
...who used to play for the Delhi Daredevils,
...said that Delhi is interested,
...and wants to sign you.
Have a word with them.
I couldn't believe it!
A year ago, I was watching IPL at home.
Oh wow!
With my friends!
When we'd see a new bowler on TV, we'd remark, 'Who is this?'
My friend would say, "You bowl better than these guys!
What do you think?"
I'd say, "Leave it,
...they're there and I'm here.
I don't have anything, where will I go!"
The day you learnt that...
...the moment you heard you're playing for the country,
...did you get emotional?
It was like...
...I could see it but not feel it.
Because when,
...uh, India...
West Indies?
Yes, had gone to West Indies to play the T20 World Cup,
...and...
I think Praveen Kumar got injured.
Since he was injured, I was called to replace him.
So, I was called to Mumbai,
...and once I got there,
...they told me to go home!
I told them I was selected.
They said, "It's not that you aren't,
...the problem is there are two matches remaining...
-...by the time you get there, the series will be over!
-Correct!
You'll have to return as soon as you reach. So there's no point."
I said okay, it's fine.
Let it go.
There's no night without a morning. I'll get my chance someday.
Then I got my chance in 2010.
The Zimbabwe Tour where...
...Suresh Raina was the captain.
That's where I got my first chance...
...to represent India.
I wore the Indian jersey.
Before the match started,
...I tried it on to see how I looked.
Ah!
It's a different feeling!
I felt, now that I have worn it,
...I never want to take it off!
Oh wow!
That was the feeling.
Once I started playing,
...I got very attached,
...to that feeling.
You can't forget it.
You keep chasing it,
...and feel it so deeply.
When you're selected and dropped from the starting 11,
...how do you manage the up and downs?
Getting in and out of the 11,
...is like happiness and sadness.
Like how joy goes away in a moment,
...is like this in or out situation.
You have to think as a sportsperson.
These things will happen.
If I am laughing, I will also cry.
It has to happen.
As a sportsperson, I had already told myself that,
...if this happens, I cannot let it break me.
I have to perform well, so that I can come back.
You have played a big role
...in his life.
You have known him for 10-12 years,
...so did you always know he's very different...
...and very few people have this pace in India?
The thing is the first time I realised that...
...he is a natural athlete.
His way of running...
...his way of doing things,
...on the field or you know like...
...it's amazing! It's so different than the others.
I used to watch him bowl,
...and the speed at which,
...the ball reached the wicketkeeper and...
...the sound that came from the gloves,
...I knew in that moment,
...he will play for India. Today, or tomorrow.
Till I was playing with the tennis rubber ball, I didn't know,
...but the day I picked up the season ball,
...and started bowling,
...people came up to me and said,
..."This is something different."
They said that they had never seen,
...a bowler bowl at this pace,
...in the Vidarbha district.
No one knows why but...
...I feel that it's in the genes,
...I have got from my father.
My routine was very different.
I would sleep early,
...and wake up at 5 AM.
I'd have to leave then.
I'd say, "Let me sleep." My dad would say no.
He'd say, wake up, and get out. Get some fresh air.
I'd go to the river banks.
I'd go there and...
...run and exercise.
So I feel that all those things,
...are so deeply seeded in my life,
...that I have become so strong.
I was meant to be an athlete.
WCL is the area,
...where I come from.
It's the place my father worked,
...and he worked very hard.
Going into the mines...
...into the big tunnels underground...
...in complete darkness,
...with only a small torch on his helmet,
...giving him light.
After seeing all of that hard work,
I'd wonder if I could give him anything in return.
My game and the way I played,
...even I never thought,
...that I would be able to provide for my family,
...in this way and become their support.
In a way where I can,
...make their lives better.
You've not kept your childhood trophies?
Those trophies...
...they're at dad's house.
The ones I got later, I've kept here.
All my childhood memories,
...are with dad.
What's the story here?
These are the...
…memorabilia of my...
... best bowling figures.
In the Tests against the West Indies,
...I took 10 wickets.
These two balls are from that match.
Actually,
...after a long time a fast bowler...
...has done this in India.
He has been beaten up a couple of times, I've heard!
Yes, that's true.
Everyone gets it!
I think at that time,
...I needed it.
Or I wouldn't have listened.
On the topic of school,
...when I got my admission,
...I would always throw a tantrum,
...and say I don't want to go.
So my father first asked my nicely,
...to go and that everyone has to go.
I said no, I don't want to go and I won't.
After that, I got one tight slap,
...and I never said I don't want to go again.
I've spent my childhood,
...with father being away at work,
...and mom would be around,
...I'd ask her for whatever I wanted.
"I want this, I want to do that."
Even if she'd scold me,
...she'd give me what I wanted.
When I'd come home after playing,
...mom would get up at night,
...to open the door and heat the food for me.
Then she'd give me food and...
...after that I'd quietly sleep next to her.
Dad would wake up and...
...ask if I was up.
I used to be awake!
Mom would say he came home late, he'll be up soon.
My father would wait...
...for me to wake up so that he could scold me.
But I would pretend to be asleep.
Once he'd leave for work, I'd wake up,
...get dressed and run to school.
That was how it used to be.
This is why I was closer to my mother.
My mom got very ill later.
We didn't know what was wrong initially.
It kept getting worse,
...and it got serious.
We didn't know many things.
Illnesses we hadn't heard of.
This happened right when I had started out.
Either my father or...
...my brother Kamlesh,
...they would hide the facts from me.
Because they knew that,
...if I know the truth,
...I'll be worried and come back home.
They were worried I'll lose my career,
...right when it had started.
When the moment came that I found out,
...it was very sudden for me.
I still remember it was 2012 or...
2011.
2011. I was playing a tournament.
 -In Indore. 
In Indore.
So, at the time I didn't know anything.
I hadn't heard anything till the morning.
But my mom had been admitted,
 ...the night before.
They didn't tell me that they had taken mom to the hospital,
...or that it was serious.
I went to the ground in the morning.
The match started and I bowled in it.
When I left the ground, I found out.
When you hear this about someone so close to you,
...I was in shock. I couldn't move.
How could this happen?
I couldn't understand.
She was my best friend,
...my closest friend.
At that time, I felt that,
...I have lost everything.
Sometimes, I feel that,
...I was very late.
If I became a player earlier, she wouldn't have suffered.
I could have gotten her treated better.
I feel sad about the fact that,
...if she were alive,
...she would've been so happy and enjoyed...
...the things that her son has earned for her.
But it is what it is.
Maybe it was in my fate,
...to get my mother's love for only that much time.
I know what she would have wanted from me.
I have to fulfil all that.
When you and dad, with your younger brother and sister
...watch him on TV,
...helping India win,
...how does it feel?
We take a lot of interest in that.
Our happiness has no bounds in that moment.
I was in Goa when I heard he was selected for IPL.
Oh.
Actually, didn't know, it was my elder brother,
...who came and told me.
I told him, "Stop joking!"
Okay.
-I've made food, please eat it and sleep. 
-Hahahahaha!
Later on, when...
...it came on TV...
...that these players have been selected,
...then I believed him.
I've read about your interesting philosophy about money...
Money... I have never run after it.
I never wanted more than I needed.
Because, having more than you need,
...is another headache.
So what I try,
...what I have learnt from life,
...is that I must not waste money.
Use as much as you need,
If you can use to help someone, then definitely.
Sir, do you have a dream for him?
The dream I had has been fulfilled.
My wish was to have him succeed,
...I didn't care about material gains.
My boy should progress, that's what would make me happy.
The first time you travelled abroad,
...and saw everybody eating with knives and forks...
Oh, I was so tensed!
Firstly I had to speak in English everywhere!
Hahahahaha!
Then I had to order my food from room service.
That was even tougher! 
Hahaha!
I spent some days eating only Chicken Burgers.
Is it?
It was all I could find easily on the menu there.
Slowly after that...
...I grew confident,
...and I learnt while working with foreigners in the IPL.
I learnt the most after I got married.
So after marriage, Bablu became a gentleman!
Exactly right!
I changed a lot after that.
She helped me improve my English,
Oh!
...by speaking.
So she's your life coach?
Definitely! She taught how to live well.
A good lifestyle.
So let's call her, please come madam!
I hope you're not tensed?
-Hahaha. 
I never take any tension.
How did you two meet?
While playing IPL.
Like I said, my life is as simple as I am.
I played IPL with Delhi for 5 years.
We met through common friends.
After meeting her in a crowd,
...I couldn't approach her directly to talk.
I followed her on Facebook first,
...then started chatting on it.
Then we exchanged numbers...
...and started talking.
For the 5 years I was in Delhi, we met,
...and got to know each other.
We were both happy and...
...I met her family too.
They agreed to the match.
I always thought I needed a partner...
...who was a little strict.
Because I know that I am very relaxed in life.
She doesn't look strict! Is she strict with you?
She's quite strict.
How come?
Ask everyone who works here,
...you'll find out!
So the lady is strict and sir is very tender hearted,
...so with the proposal,
...who made the first move?
Oh don't even ask! It took a lot of time,
...to gather the courage for the proposal.
So when did you find out about this love story?
They revealed it with news of the wedding.
Dad asked him,
...if you have a girl in mind, let us know,
...otherwise I'll start searching for you.
He went to my wife,
...told her about his relationship,
...and asked her to speak to dad.
She was also scared when she told me...
...and asked me to convince my father.
I said we don't need to convince him, we'll just tell him!
Actually, everyone is afraid of my father-in-law, except me.
-You're not afraid? 
-He's very close to me, we gel very well.
-How sweet
-So if at home...
...someone wants to say something to dad, they ask me to tell him.
On your wedding day,
...what zone was he in?
Mischievous or shy?
On our wedding day, even I was wondering what's happening.
Our wedding went like a breeze,
...no one will believe it!
My IPL season had just gotten over,
...in 2013.
I came home, and two days later I got married.
The day after the wedding,
...I had to leave for England.
Does she like traveling with you?
She likes traveling but hates flying.
Whenever we hit turbulence,
...she get's scared.
"Why is this happening!"
"Please tell the crew to fly the plane properly!"
I say, "Let me go and fly it."
So when did you start helping him out?
Forget the rest of the world.
There wasn't anything to fix as such.
I'm telling you, he's one of the most punctual people.
He has very fixed timings, his routine for his breakfast, his training.
He doesn't give me a chance to complain about anything.
What's one thing about him that,
...the world doesn't know?
Only you and the family know?
He's a shopaholic!
He buys a lot of clothes, a lot of shoes, you won't believe it!
Oh!
I don't know if anyone knows this at home.
Have you seen him
...change over the years?
Uh, when he started playing for India,
...and one or two years,
...or just one year after that,
his dressing style began to change!
Earlier he would wear a simple t-shirt and a pair of jeans,
...and wear sneakers and come.
Slowly, the brands of his t-shirts started changing,
...the jeans he wore, the shoes, all were branded.
So we asked him, "Bablu bro, what's up? Looking spiffy!"
He told me yes sir, this is new,
...and we used to enjoy that.
He was always fond of fashion.
But he hasn't changed as a person?
He's the same. He will never change!
I am the same, no matter what I am outside, my heart is the same.
It will never change.
Bablu bhai, you say the sweetest things,
...but we are now about to check your spicy quotient!
Ready?
Absolutely!
Veg or Non Veg?
Non Veg.
Virat or Dhoni?
Oh this is difficult! Don't ask such questions!
Village soil or city air?
My village earth.
Daredevils, Knight Riders or RCB?
Oh! Hahahaha!
RCB.
Riding a bike or driving a luxury car?
Hmmm, riding a bike.
Favourite Akshay Kumar dialogue?
"How far will you push a kid!"
Favourite food?
Dal, Roti and Ghee, or something Non Veg?
Dal, Roti, Ghee.
Three hours at net practice, or one hour with your wife?
The way things are now, nets.
Usain Bolt or Sachin Tendulkar?
Oh! Both are my favourites.
As a batsman, Sachin sir, as a cricketer.
As an athlete, Usain Bolt.
Seafood or Saoji food?
Seafood.
ODI debut or Test debut?
Test debut.
Your answers are as fast as your bowling!
Absolutely spicy food..
It's just that the one who is clear in his head,
...he doesn't need to fear the situation.
He knows he's already clear.
There's going to be no problem!
People say that their situation was tough,
...or that they've seen such a hard life...
...and struggled their way here.
I say no, everyone has a hard life.
Nobody has it easy.
The main thing is to have faith.
If you believe,
...then you will find your space in life.
That's it, there's nothing else to it.
