Legendary Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar heaped praise on Jaydev Unadkat for his terrific performance on his comeback to the Test arena after more than 12 years in the ongoing second and final Test against Bangladesh at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka.
The 31-year-old pacer had played his debut Test match against South Africa in 2010, after which he was never considered for the Test team. However, his consistent performance for Saurashtra in domestic cricket over the past 5–6 years earned him a comeback call for the Bangladesh tour.
However, Unadkat couldn’t arrive in time in Bangladesh for the first Test, but he got the opportunity in the second Test, and he grabbed it with both hands, taking 2 wickets in his 16 overs in the first innings. After the end of day one’s play, Gavaskar said Unadkat’s comeback story is a tribute to his hard work.
Sunil Gavaskar was quoted as saying to Sony Sports: “What a terrific comeback by Jaydev Unadkat. He looked the most threatening of the bowlers. He looked like getting a wicket of every delivery he bowled. So, he was the one who opened the door for India and then Ashwin and Umesh got the wickets.”
The former Indian skipper continued, “First and foremost, to harbor the ambition to keep playing cricket is a tribute to him. He has been picking wickets in the last 5-6 seasons and he was never even in contention, nobody was even talking about him playing a Test match for India. He believed in himself. You have to pay tribute to the belief he has in himself. He was just trying to soak in the feeling.”
The legendary batter also believes that Unadkat's brilliant performance in the ongoing Test has given India another left-arm new-ball bowler option, especially in sub-continent conditions.
Gavaskar signed off by saying, “And his pace was impressive as well. He is not express, he is not going to bowl at 150s but he was bowling consistently in the mid 130s, using the height. What he has done today, bowling on this kind of surface, he has given India an extra option, an extra dimension - a left-arm new-ball bowler for the future series.”
