Before the Ranji Trophy final against Bengal, Jaydev Unadkat had picked 65 wickets in nine appearances. He had to work harder to pick two more to finish on top. And the left-arm pacer is satisfied that he could prove the is not limited to IPL and the auctions. When on the field, he means business.
Unadkat had single-handedly taken Saurashtra to the final by securing his seventh five-for in the semifinal. He only picked two wickets in the final but it was of greater importance as it broke a crucial partnership, between Bengal batters Anustup Majumdar and Arnab Nandi, who had threatened to take the game away from the home team.
“The figures are there to show but if you can’t be fit and bowl penetrative spells through the season, it will be tough. I wanted to be bowling fit. To be fit and bowling with the same intensity on the final day as I would on the first day. I wanted to prove I’m not just someone who is looked up to when IPL auction numbers come up.
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“I have been working harder than many guys, as hard as any other cricketer in the country to earn my rewards. It was not just the IPL on my mind at any time. There was auction happening and people were talking just about that but this was something I wanted to do for the team, I wanted to do it for myself. I wanted to prove to myself that I don’t want to play the game for something other than cricket. I started playing this game because I was so passionate about it,” said the 28-year-old.
Unadkat has made 18 international appearances – 10 T20Is, one Test and seven one-dayers. The red ball debut had happened 10 years ago, in 2010, against South Africa when he was a teenager.
“I have got that hunger to make a comeback. The hunger has been stronger than this and that kept me going throughout the season. To be honest, it was challenging physically surviving the season. I just want to keep this phase going. I don’t want to end it here. We have won the trophy and I am the happiest captain in the world right now.”
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Need for full DRS
The Decision Review System (DRS) was introduced for the first time in the domestic season from the semifinal. However, the lack of ball-tracker led to a few debatable lbw dismissals. India international Cheteshwar Pujara and Unadkat batted for a full DRS from next season.
“It is good to see DRS in knock out stages. It is important to have it. Sometimes umpires can make an error as they are human beings and it is part of the game. This is a good step but I still feel there is scope for improvement. There is no ball tracking and snickometer at the moment. So if it is possible, I would like to see that in the big games going forward, especially semifinals and finals,” said Pujara.
“It is partial DRS with partial errors so if they can make it full nothing like that. Like you saw yesterday, there were a couple of decisions which were not quite convincing, to be honest, but at the same time, there were instances when both teams benefited from it. So not at all against DRS but full DRS is something we would like to see especially in knockouts,” added Unadkat.
Saurashtra won its maiden Ranji title against Bengal based on first-innings lead.
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