Never felt this confident about my skills, reveals Jaydev Unadkat
Saurashtra skipper Jaydev Unadkat, who has 51 wickets so far in the 2019-20 Ranji season, has said that he has never felt this confident about his skills before. Unadkat, who made his only Test appearance for India in 2010, admitted that he will be ready to grab when his next opportunity arrives.
From his excellent performances — 24 wickets from 12 matches at 13.40 — in the Rising Pune Supergiants set up during the 2017 IPL season, to being the talk of the town for his whopping IPL auction price and the poor performances that followed to once again earning the attention from the cricketing arena for his consistent performances in the domestic arena. Unadkat’s astounding returns of 51 wickets — third on the list — in seven league matches, at an average of 11.90, has made him the talking point for all the right reasons.
“There’s never an inopportune time to peak. I am enjoying my bowling, to say the least. I have never really felt this confident about my skills. It’s about what I want to do as a player in my career rather than thinking about why I am doing it now than when it was actually needed,” Unadkat told The Hindu.
His solitary Test appearance came almost a decade ago and he last featured in India’s blues in March 2018. But even with the number of fast-bowling options at India’s disposal presently, Unadkat, who is only 28, is eager to extend his form and grab whatever chance comes his way.
“There were times when I got my opportunity, I didn’t capitalise on it. What I want to do now is to stretch this period — when I am confident about my skills more than ever — longer and longer. When I get my chance again, I should be ready to grab it with both hands,” he said.
Unadkat’s optimism has definitely rubbed off on his Saurashtra teammates as well. Since taking over as skipper midway through last season, the left-armer has led Saurashtra into the Ranji final before making it to the knockout phase with a game to spare this time around.
“This is one team which doesn’t really have too much of pre-season preparation, not too many pre-season camps. We don’t really have our district games in place as well (due to extended monsoon). Preparation-wise, only three or four of us can actually travel and prepare ourselves by playing the Duleep or Deodhar, but most of these guys don’t really get the ideal game-time. Still, to come into the season, soak in the pressure of First Class cricket and perform is really a great job,” Unadkat added.
