Among us, he was the most motivated: Chetan Sakariya on Jaydev Unadkat's emotional celebration after Vijay Hazare Trophy win
Saurashtra pacer Chetan Sakariya believes captain Jaydev Unadkat was the driving force behind their Vijay Hazare Trophy triumph.
Unadkat was one of the stalwarts in the team and was on his knees after the winning moment, proving just how much the title meant to him. The veteran left-arm pacer led from the front, picking up the highest number of wickets in the tournament (19).
Chetan Sakariya feels Unadkat played a huge role in keeping the entire team on the same page and ensuring that the bond they shared remained extremely strong.
Speaking exclusively to Sportskeeda, Sakariya opened up on the efforts taken by the Saurashtra skipper to keep the entire team motivated for the ultimate goal. He said:
"Jaydev Bhai was very emotional. I feel that among us, he was the most motivated and the one who had the most belief that we could win this tournament."
The pacer added:
"This is the team he built and he also ensured that the team bonding was always there by arranging dinners, playing games, etc. He personally took the effort of arranging these things and making sure that the boys gelled together."
Chetan Sakariya on Saurashtra's team environment
Chetan Sakariya claimed that Saurashtra were not at all nervous ahead of the final against Maharashtra. Chasing a total of 249, they got home with five wickets and 21 balls to spare thanks to Sheldon Jackson's stunning unbeaten 133.
He believes beating some strong teams in the knockouts helped them build a lot of confidence and stated:
"We were pretty confident about our chances because we had beaten those teams in the knockouts who had already won the tournament before. So we believed we could go all the way this time."
The left-arm pacer also spoke about the mood in the camp as they got closer to the winning moment and how they decided to celebrate the win. He added:
"As we got closer to the end of the game, the boys began to plan how they would celebrate. With the FIFA World Cup going on, we decided to celebrate in that fashion.
"However, when the winning runs were hit, the natural instincts took over and everyone ran towards the middle and hugged Sheldon Bhai and [Chirag] Jani Bhai."
Saurashtra's consistency across formats over the past few years has definitely shown that they will be a force to reckon with in the near future as well.