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India recently announced their squad for the third and fourth Tests of the Border Gavaskar Trophy and the three-match ODI series that follows.
Jaydev Unadkat, who was released from the squad for the second Test to go play the Ranji Trophy final is a part of the squads in both formats. This is a real victory for the left-arm seamer for whom years of consistent domestic performance seem to be paying off.
Unadkat's leadership has propelled Saurashtra to new heights in the Indian domestic circuit, with the side winning both the Vijay Hazare Trophy and the Ranji Trophy in the 2022-23 season. Unadkat has been a List A regular for quite a while and has bowled many memorable spells.
Let's take a look at three such spells.
#3 4/33 in 8 overs vs Hyderabad, 2018
The 2018 edition of the Vijay Hazare Trophy was a hugely successful one for Jaydev Unadkat.
While Saurashtra themselves didn't make the playoffs, Unadkat had a great tournament, picking up 16 wickets in eight matches, averaging an excellent 18.43 with the ball. His season included a couple of top spells, with his 4/33 against Hyderabad being one of them.
In a rain-curtailed match against a strong batting order, Unadkat led the way with the ball, accounting for the key wickets of captain Akshath Reddy and Rohit Rayudu among others as Hyderabad was restricted to 195/9 in 45 overs.
In the end, Saurashtra won by seven wickets by the VJD method after their innings came to a halt due to rain.
#2 4/23 in 9 overs vs Madhya Pradesh, 2018
In the very next game after his 4/23 against Hyderabad, Unadkat produced another superb bowling performance, picking up 4/23 again, this time in nine overs, against Madhya Pradesh.
Unadkat broke some key partnerships in the middle order to prevent the MP innings from developing any momentum as they won the toss and elected to bat first. His efforts, along with that of Dharmendrasinh Jadeja, meant that Madhya Pradesh was bowled out for a mere 136.
Saurashtra chased down the target fairly comfortably, with seven wickets in hand, securing another victory thanks to an in-form Jaydev Unadkat.
#1 5/23 in 9 overs vs Himachal Pradesh, 2022
Saurashtra has had a great year in domestic cricket, winning the Vijay Hazare Trophy and more recently, the Ranji Trophy. Unadkat's performance, both as a bowler and as a captain, has garnered praise from the cricketing fraternity.
He had a stellar season with the ball in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, finishing the tournament as the highest wicket-taker with 19 wickets in 10 matches at an astonishing economy rate of only 3.33
Unadkat bowled plenty of good spells throughout the tournament but none can top his 5/23 against defending champions Himachal Pradesh. The HP top order simply didn't have an answer to Unadkat's bowling as they crumbled to 134 all out, with none of their top seven getting a double-digit score.
It would've been much worse had it not been for a spirited rearguard batting effort from Sumeet Varma. Nevertheless, the damage was already done as Saurashtra coasted to a victory, chasing the paltry target down by eight wickets with more than 20 overs to spare.
