"Be yourself," he remembered telling himself on that day.
Yadav made a brisk 57 in his second T20 game at Ahmedabad after he did not get to bat in his debut match.
"If you would have seen properly, I was very excited at that time. Also, I was not happy at that time since Rohit (Sharma) had got out, but when I was going to bat, I was running in, so that shows how excited I was," the 30-year-old said in a video posted by Mumbai Indians on their official Twitter handle.
Yadav, who has now played three T20 games, said that he recollected his achievements at the number three spot while coming out of the dug-out.
"When I padded up and came to the dug-out, I was nervous, and it should be that way, if you don't get nervous, how would you perform," he said.