Surprised by “surreal” bidding for him during the IPL 2018 auction, Jaydev Unadkat took some time to realize that franchises are going all out to buy him. He was training with his Saurashtra teammates in Rajkot for the upcoming Vijay Hazare Trophy and asked team physio to inform him when his name comes up for bidding during the IPL auctions.

Unadkat became the costliest Indian player in the IPL 2018 auction as he was bought by Rajasthan Royals for a prize of 11.5 crores. Talkin about the same, he said, “After the physio told me that my bidding is on, I was hooked onto the live streaming for the next 15 minutes and found it surreal. The entire team stopped it’s training to watch my bidding.”

Also read: When Unadkat was an underdog

The southpaw Saurashtra seamer has played a Test, seven ODIs and four T20 Internationals for India but in the last one year, he has emerged as a parsimonious bowler in the shortest format.

He did not expect franchises to go this far for a fast bowler since the 10 crore plus deals have always been batsmen’s bastion. He said, “Honestly, I did not have any amount of mind. The past two years have been pretty good for me and after last year’s IPL (24 wickets), I expected a good bid. But yes, I was really amazed at the kind of bidding that happened. It is indeed surprising to me that franchises were ready to pay so much for a fast bowler.”

But he is aware of the burden of expectations that will come his way but, Jaydev is not looking to take much pressure on himself thinking about it. He said, “I am overwhelmed but taking it in a happy way. I am expected to give my best for my franchise and will strive to do that.”

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Crediting Bharat Arun for his recent improvements, Unadkat said, “During the first time that I played for India till now, I have worked a lot on my game. One of the main architects of this change has been our India bowling coach Bharat Arun. Bharat sir has been my coach since I was a U-19 India player. I have had numerous sessions with him at the NCA, which has proved to be immensely helpful.”

One of the lesser-known facts about Unadkat is that he used to be a good student in school with 91 percent marks in his 10th standard board exam and 86 percent in the 12th standard studying commerce.