Indian pacer Jaydev Unadkat ended his 12-year wait with a maiden Test wicket. The left-arm fast bowler made an instant impact on his comeback in the second match against Bangladesh on Thursday. He went wicketless in the 26 overs that he bowled on his Test debut way back in December 2010 against South Africa in Centurion. And after that, he is playing his second Test on December 22, 2022, against Bangladesh in Mirpur.
Unadkat, however, would say, it was worth the wait. He had big shoes to fill as he replaced Kuldeep Yadav who was the Player of the match in the first game. Unadkat dismissed Zakir Hasan, the centurion in the first Test, cheaply for 15, giving India an early breakthrough on Day 1 of the second Test. On a back of a length delivery, Zakir tried to cut the ball but it ballooned up and found KL Rahul in the fourth slip.
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Unadkat had his both arms in the air, closed his eyes, and let it sink in. It was a long wait and it finally came. In that brief moment, all those lonely days of toiling hard in domestic cricket must have trickled in front of him. They all seemed worth it.
Good to see him taking his first wicket: Sunil Gavaskar
Former Indian Cricketer Sunil Gavaskar also heaped praise for the fast bowler as he picked up his maiden Test wicket after a long wait. He said that the rub of the green didn’t quite go Unadkat’s way after batters rode their luck.
“Even in the first over that he bowled, he got the ball to nip back in and bounce. If there was a forward short leg, maybe he would have got a wicket earlier on. He was also unlucky that a couple of edges flew away from the fielders,” Gavaskar was quoted as saying.
“Good to see him taking his first wicket and, hopefully, it’s the first of many because he brings a left-hand variety into the attack. He is using his height well, he is banging the ball just short of a length, not looking to bowl the bouncer. And look at those figures,” he added.
