India vs Sri Lanka | Jaydev Unadkat highlights the importance of variations in T20 cricket

After the first round of matches in the Nidahas Trophy, Jaydev Unadkat is at the top of the list of the highest wicket-takers as the Indian bowler has managed to scalp four wickets in the two matches he has played so far. In modern day cricket, where the competition between bat and ball has been as lopsided as ever, Unadkat, who impressed the selectors with his performance in South Africa, believes that variations, especially in the T20 format, help bowler’s in successfully “playing” with a batsman’s mind.

“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,” said Unadkat reported the Indian Express.

“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.”

But it’s not just the pacers who have adapted to the new format with variations such as the knuckleball, the spinners have been creative as well. With R Ashwin coming up with a carrom ball and leggies, it is Unadkat’s current teammate Washington Sundar who has impressed him. The duo were a part of the Rising Pune Supergiant side that made it all the way to the final of the IPL last year and their performances have helped them make it into the national side. 

Sundar has been so impressive with the ball that stand-in captain Rohit Sharma has handed him the ball in the second over of both the matches that India have played so far.

“I think he is bowling really well. We have bowled together in the past for Pune in the IPL. What benefits us is that how he contains the batsman being an off-spinner, which is a very difficult job. In this game, the openers just come and try to blast their way through. He varies his pace really well and keeps it simple,” said the 26-year-old about his teammate.

After allowing the Sri Lankan batsmen to chase down 175 runs in the first game of the tri-series, the Indian bowlers made a strong comeback against Bangladesh in the second game as they restricted them to a score of just 139 runs in their quota of 20 overs.

“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,” said the costliest Indian player of the 2018 IPL auctions.

Jaydev Unadkat made a comeback to the Indian T20I team after a gap of 2 years and doesn't want to leave any stone unturned to make the full use of this opportunity and cement his place in the Indian team.

“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,” concluded the Rajasthan Royals’ player.