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Jaydev Unadkat reveals his heartwarming conversation with Rahul Dravid ahead of his Test comeback

Jaydev Unadkat played his first Test at Centurion against South Africa in 2010 when he was just 19 years old. MS Dhoni was India’s captain at that point. He did not play a Test since then until he made a comeback into the India squad after 12 years.

Before that, Unadkat went through the grind and put in the hard yards in domestic cricket for Saurashtra. He made them into a winning side in domestic cricket. He has picked up 353 wickets in first-class cricket at an average of 23.50. He was the leading wicket-taker in the 2019-20 Ranji Trophy season with 67 wickets. He led Saurashtra to title glory in the same season.

‘I went into trance mode’ – Jaydev Unadkat on his Test recall against Bangladesh

“Everyone congratulated me, saying that it was well deserved. And even though it was repetitive I still felt a little sense of pride every time I heard that, that you deserve this call-up. On the day when the Test was starting, Rahul bhai told me in the morning: ‘JD, you are a part of the XI. And this is probably one of the most well-deserved call-ups that you have got. Be very, very proud of it and enjoy your time out there in the middle,’ – he said to ESPNcricinfo on his Test comeback.

In the first innings of the Mirpur Test, he picked up 2-50. His wickets included Zakir Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim. He bowled a snorter of a ball to pick the wicket of Hasan. He also picked up Shakib Al Hasan’s wicket in the second innings to cap off an impressive comeback. He also talked about what Chetan Sharma the chairman of selectors told him before he linked up to the Test squad.

“Chetan [Sharma] bhai called me and said, you don’t have to go to the Ranji Trophy game, you will have to join Test squad. It was a simple call where he just told me that I’d have to pack my bags for Dhaka,” Unadkat added. I was just thankful in that moment. I went into that trance mode, where everything becomes blurry and you just sort of enjoy the moment. We were in a car and I was with Rinny [wife], my sister and my brother-in-law, so there were screams and joy and ecstasy, which made it even more special.” The Saurashtra player added.