Jaydev Unadkat has been in a good form and he has finished as the highest wicket-taker in the 2019-20 Ranji Trophy with 67 scalps from 10 matches as well. Despite having performed well, he has remained out of the radar and doesn’t get a recall in the Indian set-up.
While he didn’t recall for the Australia and England series, he couldn’t find a place in the Indian squad for the upcoming inaugural World Test Championship final against New Zealand as well as the five-match Test series against England later this year. Meanwhile, Unadkat has said that he was hoping for a recall but not getting it left him “disappointed” as well.
However, Jaydev Unadkat was recently seen in action during the recently-suspended Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021.
“When I have performed the way I have, I was hoping I’ll get the call somewhere down the line,” Unadkat told Sportstar in an interview. “The opportunities have become… one, they have reduced because of lesser tournaments but that has resulted in them creating a bigger pool for every series. That way it has become an opportunity in itself.”
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“And not being selected in that sense has been disappointing for sure but having said that, I’ve got to keep doing what I’ve been doing. It’s a fact that I was the highest wicket-taker in Ranji Trophy. Nothing has really happened after that,” Unadkat further added.
However, Team India had faced a lot of injuries during their four-match Test series in Australia where the players like Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah were all injured at different stages in the series. And because of that, youngsters like Shardul Thakur, T Natarajan and Mohammed Siraj got their chances but Unadkat didn’t get the chance.
“Even during the Australia tour, with the amount of injuries that were happening, it became disappointing (to not be picked) afterwards. To start with, maybe because I didn’t have a great IPL (2020) – and what they look for is current form. It was T20 cricket in IPL but it was going to be red-ball cricket Down Under, but nowadays they look at current form more than the format,” he again shared.
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“Since there wasn’t much cricket happening back then, there was no Ranji Trophy this season, that way to start with, I felt (exclusion from) Australia tour was fine because everyone was fit in the main squad. But later on, (looking at) those who got chances, I felt I deserved one,” he further added.
“Now for the England tour, I was hoping for it. As simple as that. I have been honest in the past when I have said that the guys who are at the top are doing well so I have to wait for my chance. This time around, I have been honestly disappointed. I’ll still take the disappointment positively to motivate myself to do better. That’s all I can do,” Jaydev Unadkat concluded.
