Mumbai, May 3 (IANS): Claiming early wickets in T20 cricket makes a huge difference for teams bowling first and therefore getting wickets in the first mandatory powerplay makes things easy for the bowling unit.

Bowling in powerplay is very important as there are fielding restrictions and a lot of chances for the batsmen to score. So, getting wickets in such conditions requires special abilities and that is why bowling in powerplay is emerging as great art in T20 cricket.

In Kolkata Knight Riders' match against Rajasthan Royals on Monday, Umesh Yadav struck an early blow for Kolkata by removing Devdutt Padikkal for 4 in the third over, foxing the batter with pace to get him caught and bowled.

This was another powerplay wicket for the 34-year-old right-hand seamer who has claimed early wickets in most of the matches he has played in IPL 2022. EArly in IPL 2022, Yadav had completed 50 wickets in the powerplay.

The seamer who represents Vidarbha at the domestic level has so far taken 15 wickets in 10 matches in IPL 2022 at an average of 10.6 and an economy rate of 7.15 with the best haul of 4/23. Yadav is fourth in the list of bowlers with the most wickets in IPL 2022 so far behind Yuzvendra Chahal (19), Kuldeep Yadav (17), T Natarajan (17).

KKR skipper Shreyas Iyer acknowledged Umesh Yadav's role in his team's success so far.

"The way he's bowling those hard lengths, he's increased his pace definitely. It's really tough to bat against him in the nets," said Shreyas Iyer after the match on Monday.

"He's got a set of plans which is really hard to read. As a captain, you just have to give him the ball and he's always up to execute things," said Shreyas Iyer of Umesh Yadav's performance in IPL 2022 so far.

With the selectors set to pick the Indian team for T20 World Cup in a few months, Umesh Yadav's will surely be the first name they will consider.