Try until you succeed is a famous adage and one which Jaydev Unadkat has kept very close to his heart and mind in his career. The left-arm seamer made his India’s Test debut back in 2010 being a 19-year-old against South Africa. The world was his oyster at that stage but things didn’t go to plan for the youngster.
However, Unadkat didn’t throw in the towel and he kept coming up with consistent performances at the domestic level to keep knocking on the selection doors. The Saurashtra seamer scalped 353 wickets in 96 first-class matches at an impressive average of 23.04.
However, despite such performances, he was ignored by multiple sets of selectors at the helm but he was finally given his deserved call-back to the Indian squad after a hiatus of 12 years and 118 Test matches.
The 31-year-old is often trolled on social media when he leaks runs in the IPL. On Thursday, at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium, Dhaka, Unadkat got a chance he was waiting for, for the last 12 years. India’s stand-in captain KL Rahul handed the red cherry to Unadkat in the opening session and he showed the world how hard he has been working behind the scenes.
The left-arm seamer got a spongy bounce to trouble the Bangladesh openers. The ball was kicking off from the surface and Unadkat breathed down the neck of the two openers with his nagging line and length as edges ended in no man’s land. However, the 31-year-old was finally rewarded as he got the ball to bounce awkwardly to hit the splice of Zakir Hasan’s bat and the ball ballooned to gully, where KL Rahul took a simple catch.
Subsequently, a threatening partnership between Mushfiqur Rahim and Mominul Haque was brewing but Unadkat was able to induce an outside edge of the former’s bat. Ergo, Unadkat’s homecoming to Test cricket was a successful one as he returned with figures of 2-50 in the 16 overs he bowled.
Speaking to Cricbuzz on Thursday, December 22, Karthik said: “Jaydev Unadkat is a great example of somebody who has persevered and gone through the ups and downs of life like anyone else, but stuck with it and got better. They say leaders should obviously walk the talk, and that’s exactly what he has done for Saurashtra.
“Getting wickets day after day on flat tracks, making sure that he is leading the pack. He has groomed Chetan Sakariya over a period of time. Hats off to him! He has been a champion in every way.”
India ended the opening day at 19-0 and the visitors’ trail by 208.
