3 fringe Indian cricketers who are doing great in the County Championship ft. Jaydev Unadkat
Indian cricketers have been regular participants in the County Championship over the years. The likes of Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ravichandran Ashwin have all plied their trade for various teams in the competition.
Playing first-class cricket in England is definitely a great experience for overseas players. It helps them in fine-tuning their overall game and get a better idea of those conditions. It is highly valuable for top-order batters and spinners - two roles who do not have it easy playing red-ball cricket in England.
The County Championship resumed on September 3 and will conclude on September 29. A bunch of fringe Indian cricketers are currently taking part in the tournament. We look at three such players in this piece.
#1 Jayant Yadav
Delhi-born right-arm off-spinner Jayant Yadav has played 76 first-class matches, including six Tests for India. The bowling all-rounder has picked up 210 wickets at an average of 32.57. He has also scored 2,600 runs at an average of 25.24.
Jayant Yadav was signed by Middlesex for the last four matches of the season. However, visa issues meant he could not play against Essex last week. He made his debut against Lancashire at the Old Trafford.
Middlesex could only score 194 in the first innings. In reply, Lancashire scored 413. Yadav was the pick of the bowlers, as he returned with figures of 5/131 in 33 overs. Middlesex batted much better in the second innings, scoring 160/3 in 67 overs. The match ended in a draw.
#2 Karun Nair
Karnataka batter Karun Nair is only the second batter in Indian history to have scored a triple hundred in Test cricket. The right-handed batter has played 86 first-class matches, scoring 6000 runs at an average of 49.18 with 15 centuries and 28 half-centuries. However, he could only play six Tests for India.
Here's what Nair stated ahead of joining Northants:
"I'm really looking forward to joining Northamptonshire and getting to play in the County Championship." Nair said in a statement. "You hear a lot about county cricket and I know Prithvi [Shaw] really enjoyed his time with the team so it's exciting to have the opportunity to be involved too.
Nair was signed by Northamptonshire for three County matches as a replacement for Australia's Sam Whiteman. He made his debut against Warwickshire at Edgbaston. He walked out to bat in the 11th over when the score was 24/2, and scored a brilliant 78 off 177 balls with 10 fours and a six. However, they lost the match by two wickets.
#3 Jaydev Unadkat
Jaydev Unadkat is a giant of Indian domestic cricket. The 31-year-old left-arm pacer has played 105 matches and picked up 392 wickets at an average of 22.56. These are highly impressive numbers for a pacer who has played most of his games on wickets which don't have as much help for the quicker bowlers.
Unadkat has represented India in four Tests, picking up just three wickets. However, such few games that he's played sporadically do not tell us much about his ability across conditions in this format. He joined Sussex for his first county stint.
He has picked up 10 wickets in two matches against Leicestershire and Durham. He was extremely impactful in Sussex's 15-run win over Leicestershire, returning with match figures of 9/117.