Nidahas Tri-series 2018: Jaydev Unadkat cites variations as the most important facet for bowlers in T20 cricket

Unadkat feels the Indian bowlers will only get better as the tournament progresses.

Unadkat scalped 3 for 38 in India's 6-wicket victory against Bangladesh in the T20I tri-series | AP

India’s left-arm pacer Jaydev Unadkat put on a fabulous show with the ball during the second match of the ongoing Twenty-20 tri-series against Bangladesh on Thursday (March 8) at R.Premadasa Stadium, Colombo. Unadkat scalped 3 for 38 in his 4 overs as India restricted Bangladesh to 139/8 and consequently registered a comprehensive 6-wicket victory to open their account in the points table. 

Addressing the press conference on the eve of India’s third match in the T20I tri-series, Unadkat stressed on the significance of variations in Twenty-20 cricket for a bowler.

“Variations are most important for a bowler in this format. You talk about playing with the batsman’s mind and you can only do that with variations,” Jaydev Unadkat quoted.

“You can see how hard batsmen are going at us in the Powerplay in this tournament. It is up to us how we come out of it and don’t allow them to hit. I back myself to do that,” he added.

After being thrashed by the Sri Lanka batsmen in the tournament opener, India bowlers raised their game by many folds against Bangladesh. Besides Unadkat, all-rounder Vijay Shankar chipped in with two wickets while Shardul Thakur and Yuzvendra Chahal claimed one wicket each. Seeing the all-round effort of the bowling attack, Unadkat said the bowlers will only get better as the tournament progresses.

“You can be under pressure 24 times (off a maximum 24 balls) in T20s. We executed our plans better against Bangladesh and it is only going better in the coming games,” he said.

Talking about his comeback to the national team, Jaydev Unadkat added: “I was waiting for this opportunity ever since I started playing the game. These are exciting times for me. I have tried to do as well as I could and the next few months will be about how I can improve further.”

He was also impressed with Bangladesh’s record 215-run chase against Sri Lanka on Saturday (March 10).

“It was a very good chase. 215 by any team against any team is a great effort. It leaves the tournament wide open,” Unadkat concluded.

India are currently placed at the second position in the points table. In fact, all the three teams are tied with 2 points after playing as many matches. However, the hosts are leading the table because of the superior run-rate.

 
 

By Salman Anjum - 12 Mar, 2018

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