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Saurashtra is where Jaydev Unadkat's heart is
Released from the India squad after a ‘mutual decision’, Unadkat is keen on extending an inspiring run in yet another Ranji Trophy final
It never is an easy decision, voluntarily leaving the India squad for a Ranji Trophy game, not when selections come so few and far between. But the choice was also simple for Jaydev Unadkat. Saurashtra are in the final. So he won’t be anywhere else.
“This team is so close to my heart,” said Unadkat, a day before the final here. “When you start playing, you always dream of playing in the Ranji Trophy. My dream was to play for Saurashtra. To play for the nation comes secondary; first, you have to establish yourself as a Ranji Trophy player. That dream still lives strong.”
Hence the ‘mutual’ decision of leaving the Test squad. “I was keen to get game time and the team management was equally keen. Rahul (Dravid) bhai wanted me to go out there and play so I spoke to the selectors. It was a mutual decision. They were talking to me before the final as well.”
At 31, Unadkat is having a dream season, ending 2022 with a Test comeback after 12 years and beginning 2023 with a hat-trick against Delhi in Rajkot, a match he finished with career-best figures of 8/39. Even when he was away on national duty against Australia, Unadkat’s eyes were glued to the television. As were Cheteshwar Pujara and Ravindra Jadeja’s. “During our quarters and semis, we were keenly following the matches together. They wished the team all the luck. Hopefully, we will make them proud with the cricket we play.”
This is Saurashtra’s fifth Ranji Trophy final since the 2012-13 season. And Unadkat has played a key role in this turnaround. “We only had three-four debutants in the last three-four years. Even if they had a lean patch we backed them, we had the belief. Credit goes to the guys. After I took up the captaincy in 2017-18, we had no fear of failure,” he said.
As a bowler too, Unadkat led from the front. In the 2019-20 season, he took 67 wickets, the highest ever in Ranji Trophy history. Even in the final, his resilient 20 in a 39-run 10th-wicket stand with Dharmendrasinh Jadeja (33*) ultimately proved to be decisive as Saurashtra managed to eke out a 44-run first-innings lead. Even this season, when Saurashtra were looking to pile more grief on Delhi, Unadkat hit a 68-ball 70 to help the hosts declare on 574/8.
That was in Rajkot. But Eden is no less a home to Unadkat, or Sheldon Jackson for that matter, both of them having played for KKR. “Eden has been my home for four years. I started playing here with KKR. If there's a home advantage, I will take some of that as well. I've played a lot at Eden,” he said. “Even if we played the final at home, it was down to the last day, down to the wire. We have a balanced side, we can't just reach four finals in six years if we are playing well only in Rajkot.”
It’s this headspace that’s allowing Unadkat to push for a legacy few would have envisioned for Saurashtra even a decade ago. “I get jittery and excited every time I go out there on the field. The fact that I'm able to build a team where everyone recognises us as a formidable force in the domestic circuit, that itself is a matter of pride.
“Any final that I play with this bunch of players is going to be special. We have been playing together for a decade now, we have a great bonding. I look forward to it every season.”
It’s because of this bonding that Unadkat wanted to be at Eden and not at Kotla. Was it a difficult choice? Unadkat paused a bit. “From what I have experienced, playing a Ranji Trophy final in itself is a dream. I would rate both (playing for Saurashtra and the country) of them equal. Obviously playing for the nation is something everyone looks forward to. Hopefully, I will win the trophy and go back to the team.”
