Jaydev Unadkat wants to push his case for 50-over side with good performance

Jaydev Unadkat wants to push his case for 50-over side with good performance

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Jaydev Unadkat, who was the man of the series in the last Sri Lanka T20I series, wants to make a cut to the team for the 50-overs format of the game with his performances in the Nidahas Trophy. The new Rajasthan Royals recruit also added that he would try to start from where he had left last time.

In the 2018 IPL auction, Unadkat became the highest Indian and the second-highest overall pick when Rajasthan Royals, after a bidding war with Chennai Super Kings and Kings XI Punjab, managed to snap up the left-arm pacer. This all became possible due to his performances in the last season of the league when he had taken 24 wickets in 12 matches including a hat-trick with best figures of 5 for 30 for Rising Pune Supergiant. 

The performance also helped the Saurashtra pacer in finding a berth in the national side for the Sri Lanka series where he astonished everyone with his accuracy that eventually culminated in him becoming the man of the series award. And now, after securing a permanent place in the abridged version of the game, the left-arm pacer is casting a close eye for a place in the 50-over side.

“I will definitely think that this is a build up for the big tournaments coming up, not just the World T20, but the limited-overs World Cup as well. As I said, it is about pushing for place in the team, being able to execute skills in the middle now that I have the confidence of the (team) management and the skipper," the left-arm pacer told PTI.

After a forgettable Test debut for India at the SuperSport Park in Centurion in 2010, Unadkat’s stock dropped with each passing year and reached an all-time low, when he suffered a stress fracture in his back in 2014. Many thought the injury would bring a premature end to his career, but with a determined head, Unadkat rose back stronger and returned to his first full season, 2015-16, to secure 40 wickets in Saurashtra's Ranji Trophy-winning campaign. 

And now, while the senior pros like Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah have been given rest for the tri-nation series, which also involves hosts India and Bangladesh, this has come as an ideal opportunity for Unadkat to prove his worth in the side.

“It (the tri-series) is a very good opportunity for me, having played a couple of series now with the Indian team. I am settling down in the team well and I have got the confidence to execute my skills out there at the international level, which I badly needed when I was making this comeback," Unadkat said.

Unadkat managed to register figures of 1/33 in Johannesburg and 2/42 in Centurion to be one of the main architects of India’s T20I series victory and believes that the trip was a good learning curve for him. ‘

“It (South Africa tour) was a good learning experience. The wickets were different and the boundaries were in fact, a bit smaller than what we are used to playing here in India. Experience wise it was good for me to bowl on those wickets and to those batsmen in their own backyard and the pressure was high of playing South Africa in South Africa," he added.

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