Jaydev Unadkat motivated to earn a Test call-up after being excluded from the UK tour

Jaydev Unadkat motivated to earn a Test call-up after being excluded from the UK tour

Jaydev Unadkat

The squad for the forthcoming World Test Championship (WTC) final and five-Test series against England was recently revealed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur, Ishant Sharma, and Umesh Yadav are among the six pacers in the Indian squad. Avesh Khan, Prasidh Krishna, and Arzan Nagwaswalla are the three pacers picked as standbys alongside the six major pacers.

Following a strong show in the domestic circuit, Prasidh Krishna and Arzan Nagwaswalla were given their first call-ups. Regrettably, Jaydev Unadkat, who guided Saurashtra to the Ranji Trophy win in the 2019-20 season with a record-breaking tally of 67 wickets, was not included in the squad.

Dodda Ganesh unhappy with Jaydev Unadkat’s omission

Dodda Ganesh
Dodda Ganesh

Dodda Ganesh, a former Indian cricketer, expressed his dissatisfaction with Unadkat’s exclusion. In a tweet, he said it’s “perplexing” that Unadkat has been overlooked despite consistently performing at the first-class level.

“What else does @JUnadkat need to do to get into the Indian test squad. It’s perplexing to see him being ignored again and again despite great performances year after year at the FC level,” said Dodda Ganesh.

Jaydev Unadkat was quick to respond with a heartfelt response to the tweet. Undakat expressed his desire to earn a Test call-up after being excluded from the squad.

“Your concern motivates me even more! Bring on the next season,” replied Jaydev Unadkat.

Unadkat has only played a single Test match for India which was way back in 2010 in South Africa. He went wicketless after giving away 101 runs in 26 overs.

Unadkat, in fact, has been one of the most prolific players in first-class cricket. In 89 first-class matches, he took 327 wickets at an average of 23.21. In addition, he has twenty 5-wicket hauls and five 10-wicket match hauls in first-class cricket.

Recently, he played for the Rajasthan Royals in the IPL 2021 until the tournament was postponed due to Covid-19 concerns. Though he did not start for Rajasthan, Unadkat demonstrated his worth by taking four wickets in four matches with excellent control and accuracy.

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