Jaydev Unadkat contributed both with the bat and the ball for Rest of India in the Irani cup against Mumbai at the Cricket Club of India. After scoring a valuable 48 runs in a 91-run stand as wickets fell around him in the first innings, the left-arm pacer returned to claim three crucial wickets – Jay Bista, Shreyas Iyer and Abhishek Nayar - that helped bowl the opposition out for a paltry 182 in the second innings after making 608 in the first.
The collective efforts helped ROI fight back to keep themselves in the game and pull off an improbable win. A few days back Unadkat, who was part of the Saurashtra side that lost to Mumbai in three days in the Ranji Trophy final, was beaming as he finished on the winning side on Thursday. Speaking about the change in fortune after the thrilling win, Unadkat said, “It’s out of the world (feeling) I would say. This is probably one of the best matches of my career. That’s the beauty of the game, that’s what we play for. It’s a commendable effort by the team. Just don’t lose hope, that’s the morale of the story. This match will hold a special position in my career.”
Asked if he was disappointed at not being able to not get an opportunity to bat again and hit the winning runs, Unadkat said, “I was looking forward to it. The way I am batting at present, I am really enjoying it. We just wanted to score and I am happy that Sheldon (Jackson) and Jayant (Yadav) finished it off.”
Asked how the team had regrouped after Mumbai had dominated the proceeding for the first three days to take a solid first innings lead, Unadkat said, “There was a five-minute meeting at the end of the Day 3. The only thing we told each other was we will try and back our plans.
Our plans didn’t come off in first innings. We just backed ourselves and enjoy the game. That’s what we did in the last two days and the momentum shifted in our favour.”
Since he had played against the Aditya Tare-led team, when asked what his input was, Unadkat replied, “They were asking for my assessment, but the matches were live. They had seen how Mumbai had played attacking cricket. I was telling the bowlers that they go for their shots, so attack them back instead of being defensive. It is difficult in such teams where you gel for a day or two. It all came together in the second innings. That is one thing we should learn as professional cricketers, to gel well within a short span.”
Reflecting on the match where they were on a back foot to begin with as Mumbai were piling on runs, Unadkat explained, “When a team scores 600 odd runs, you have bowled a little badly. The wicket was flat. Jay (Bista) batted really well. The first session changed the game. As a bowler, I felt he was playing his shots really well. We lacked a bit of grip in our bowling. We weren’t up to the mark in the first day, and once they started getting the runs, we just went down and down. We have to prove ourselves as bowlers who can bowl at the highest level. I still bowled well on the first day, but I backed myself more on the third day. I needed to show everyone that it’s not that they can run through the Rest of India bowlers. That’s the motivation I gave myself in the second innings. It was a commendable effort by other bowlers as well to keep the match alive.”
Asked if he was surprised that Mumbai were defensive when they had 480 runs to defend, the Saurashtra cricketer said, “Yes, that was the talk going on in our dressing room as well. Hhaving said that, it is difficult to execute it than talking off the field. They had a certain plan, but they went into defensive mode a bit too early. The wicket was difficult to execute the defensive plans. That gave our batsmen the breathing space.”
Reflecting on the nerve-wracking situation, Unadkat further added, “It went down to the wire. When Stuart (Binny) and Sheldon (Jackson) were batting, we thought we would win but then when Stuart got out, the game again went down to the wire. A wicket here and there with 15 runs still needed, it could still have been a cracker of a game.”
