Umesh was held back for his ability with old ball, says Sanjay Bangar

A few eyebrows may have been raised finding Umesh Yadav introduced into the attack in the 28th over but Indian team's assistant coach Sanjay Bangar termed it as a part of the plan knowing the Vidarbha speedster's ability to get reverse swing.

"Umesh has been to known to bowl well with the old ball. Even in the series against England, you could see he got a lot of reverse swing. We had held him back, expecting that the ball would reverse-swing pretty early in the innings. It was the precise plan to hold him back as there were two left-handers at the top of the order," Bangar said at the media conference.

"It's all part of the plan, wherein you know the instinct or strength that each individual possesses. We know that Ishant (Sharma) has troubled a number of left-handers from the Australian team over the years with his pace and bounce. We wanted to exploit him and give him the first go against left-handers," Bangar explained.

Umesh's ability to pitch the ball a bit fuller helped their cause said the former Railways captain.

"We always knew about the capabilities of Umesh, who can pitch the ball slightly fuller with reverse swing coming very early into the game which we were expecting to happen. It was smart thinking by Virat. It helped him remain fresh throughout the day, which made him very incisive in his second and third spells as well, Bangar added.

"A lot of credit needs to go to captain and coach for the way they think. It all started with Ravi (Shastri) thinking in that fashion when he was in-charge, and after that Anil (Kumble) continuing in the same vein along with Virat who has been consistent factor in the making of the composition of the team. So, credit to them for having stuck to this combination of five bowlers," said Bangar.

Playing with five bowlers also makes the lower-order more responsible while batting. "It means that the lower order has to take responsibility when they come out to bat. We want all options as far as bowling is concerned because we want to bowl the opposition out twice. In Test cricket, getting 20 wickets is far more crucial to winning than just holding back and play mundane draws wherein both teams score 450 in three innings and not a result being there," he elaborated.

He also said one can bat with proper application on this track at the MCA Stadium.

"If you see, at the end of the day the score is still 256/9 and that is a lot of runs. The batsmen who applied themselves have shown that runs can be scored on this track," Bangar said.

"All credit to Starc because he came out and backed himself and played those shots. Because of that partnership they were able to end the day in a good position."