IND v BAN, 1st Test: Jaydev Unadkat arrives in Chattogram, links up with Indian team
Left-arm pacer Jaydev Unadkat on Thursday linked up with the Indian Test side ahead of day two of the first Test against Bangladesh at Chattogram. Unadkat had earlier been added to the Test squad on Sunday, but visa issues meant he arrived in Bangladesh after the first match began at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium on Wednesday.
"Hey Jaydev Unadkat, welcome back to Team India," said the BCCI from its social media accounts.
Unadkat, 31, is receiving just the second call-up in his playing career to the Indian Test squad. His only appearance so far in Tests came almost 12 years ago, in the first Test of the 2010/11 tour of South Africa in Centurion.
He was given a Test debut as a teenager straight out of the India Under-19 team and had played in the U-19 World Cup that year in New Zealand. In that Test match, he ended with figures of zero wickets for 101 as India lost by an innings and 25 runs.
Back in the grind of domestic cricket, Unadkat's record in first-class cricket grew and in the last five years, he emerged as the leader of the Saurashtra side, leading their bowling attack from the front.
He was a central figure in Saurashtra's first Ranji Trophy title win in 2019/20, picking a record-breaking 67 wickets, the most by a bowler in that season. In the last three Ranji Trophy seasons, Unadkat has picked up 115 wickets in 21 matches.
Recently, he was the highest wicket-taker in the 2022/23 Vijay Hazare Trophy, picking up 19 wickets in ten matches to lead Saurashtra to the title. Apart from a solitary Test appearance, Unadkat has also played seven ODIs and ten T20Is for India, seen in the national set-up last time when India won the Nidahas Trophy in Sri Lanka in March 2018.
Coming to the match, Ravichandran Ashwin and Kuldeep Yadav showed immense grit while defending and getting occasional boundaries to stitch an unbeaten 55-run stand and frustrate Bangladesh's bowlers, taking India to 348/7 at the end of the first session, after losing Shreyas Iyer for 86 earlier in the day.