3 Indian players who made a comeback after a long gap
Left-arm pacer Jaydev Unadkat has been recalled to the Indian Test team for the upcoming series against Bangladesh, which begins in Chattogram on Wednesday, December 14.
The 31-year-old’s name was added to the updated Indian squad for the two-match Test series against the Bangla Tigers. The experienced seamer has been rewarded for his terrific performances in domestic cricket lately. He led Saurashtra to victory in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2022.
Unadkat was, in fact, the leading wicket-taker in the tournament, claiming 19 scalps in 10 matches at an average of 16.10. He was also the star performer with a record 67 scalps when Saurashtra won the Ranji Trophy for the first time in the 2019-20 season.
As far as his Test comeback is concerned, it has been a long wait for Unadkat. He made his debut in the longest format way back in December 2010 against South Africa in Centurion. While he has played seven ODIs and 10 T20Is, the bowler has not represented India in Test matches since his debut.
If he plays in any of the two matches against Bangladesh, he will create a new record for the lengthiest gap between featuring in two Tests by an Indian player.
As Unadkat waits in hope for his much-delayed opportunity against Bangladesh, we look back at three previous instances of Indian players making a comeback after a lengthy gap.
#1 Dinesh Karthik
Veteran Indian keeper-batter Dinesh Karthik made his Test debut in November 2004 against Australia at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. He could never really cement his place in the team and was constantly in and out of the Test squad, just like in white-ball cricket.
Karthik had an impressive year in Test matches in 2007. He scored 56 and 129 during the tour of Bangladesh and followed it up with three half-centuries in as many Tests during the tour of England. Following a string of low scores, he was dropped from the Test squad for good.
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He did not feature in any Test matches for India for over eight years since January 2010. However, he made a surprise comeback in June 2018 and played in the one-off Test against Afghanistan in Bengaluru.
It was a forgettable return to the Test arena as the right-handed batter was dismissed for four. He played two more Tests during the disastrous tour of England in 2018 and hasn’t donned the whites for India since then.
#2 Parthiv Patel
Parthiv Patel and Karthik’s careers clashed with that of MS Dhoni. Both suffered as they could not grab their opportunities as Dhoni took the cricket world by storm. Like Karthik, Patel also played two Test matches for India more than eight years apart.
The baby-faced stumper was handed a premature Test debut at the age of 17 years and 153 days, making him Test cricket's youngest wicketkeeper. While the left-handed batter showed plenty of resolve with the bat, he struggled with his main duties. He was extremely sluggish and underprepared with the gloves in hand.
Team India’s management and selectors still backed him and gave him a number of chances until they ran out of patience. He did not play any Tests for four years after October 2004. His next match for India in the longer format was against Sri Lanka in Colombo in August 2008.
With Dhoni taking complete charge of Team India across formats, Patel’s Test career seemed to be over. After Dhoni's surprise Test retirement in 2014, Wriddhiman Saha took over as the natural successor. However, an injury to Saha gave Patel another lifeline. He played in his first Test since August 2008 - against England in Mohali in November 2016.
The veteran Gujarat cricketer impressed with a 42 and 67* on his comeback. He also scored 71 in Chennai in the same series. However, the emergence of Rishabh Pant cut short Patel’s comeback. He played his last Test in January 2018 and retired from the game in December 2020.
#3 Robin Singh
When it comes to ODIs, Robin Singh had to wait more than seven years to make a comeback to the Indian team after a disappointing start to his international career. The Trinidad-born former Tamil Nadu all-rounder made his ODI debut against West Indies at the Port of Spain in March 1989.
The debutant was bowled for three by Viv Richards and went wicketless with the ball. In his next ODI appearance in St John's, he scored an unbeaten 10 off 14 balls. Singh was lost in the wilderness of domestic cricket after that. However, he kept toiling hard and was eventually rewarded with an ODI comeback at the age of 33!
His comeback match for Team India was against Australia in Mohali in November 1996 during the Titan Cup. He dismissed Mark Waugh and Stuart Law off consecutive deliveries as the Men in Blue won the match by five runs. Singh did not look back after that and was a key member of the ODI squad for the next five years.
Despite a belated comeback, he ended up playing 136 ODIs for Team India, scoring 2336 with the help of one hundred and nine half-centuries. He also claimed 69 wickets, including two fifers, with his medium pace.
As a fielder, Singh was brilliant despite being on the wrong side of the 30s. He inspired the next generation to take up the till-then much-neglected aspect of the game seriously.
Also Read: Predicting 5 batters who can score a triple hundred in ODIs