"He always keeps us positive and united" - Saurashtra's Chirag Jani on captain Jaydev Unadkat

There's a sense of ease and calm when you listen to Chirag Jani speak. The pace-bowling all-rounder has been a mainstay in the Saurashtra team for years together and all that experience and wisdom reflects through his words.

Jani was one of the chief architects of Saurashtra's triumph in the just-concluded Vijay Hazare Trophy. Be it with the bat or with the ball, he was always there to deliver impactful performances for his side under pressure - something that transcends the sheer volume of numbers alone.

For the uninitated, Jani bagged a hat-trick in the penultimate over of the summit clash against Maharashtra at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. He was also there at the non-striker's end when Sheldon Jackson scored the winning runs before the rest of their teammates stormed onto the park to bask in the glory of another title triumph.

In an exclusive chat with Sportskeeda, the all-rounder dives into what went through his mind in the build-up to that hat-trick, while also throwing light on Jaydev Unadkat the leader.

Excerpts from Chirag Jani's interview with Sportskeeda

Q. Has the feeling sunk in yet? Saurashtra, the Vijay Hazare Trophy champions for the second time and the first instance with you being part of the team!

Chirag Jani: Winning the trophy is a lifetime memory for everyone. If you look back after 25 or 50 years, you will see that these were the players who won the trophy. That remains memorable for all the players. I was young when we first won the trophy back in 2008. We became the Ranji champions in 2019-20. It was a big lifetime achievement for us and suddenly we’ve now become the Vijay Hazare Trophy champions. To win two trophies in three years is a great thing for our team. The Association has always backed us and that’s why we’ve all been able to play freely, perform well and win the trophy. And we’re all very happy. There can’t be a bigger award than that for us.

Q. A hat-trick in the final, that too in the death overs when Maharashtra were looking to accelerate. Could you talk us through that and what was running in your mind?

Chirag Jani: In the last 10 overs, they were trying to attack us since they hadn’t scored too many runs until then. We had kept the pressure on them from the beginning. We tried not to give them much room and attack the stumps. When I came on to bowl, my aim was to get my yorkers right. I believed in my yorkers and I executed all three deliveries very well at the stumps. I am just very thankful that I achieved this hat-trick in the final and our team became champions. I won’t be able to forget this for life.

Q. What did your captain Jaydev Unadkat tell you after that hat-trick?

Chirag Jani: When you get a hat-trick you don’t remember what happened in the moment right after that (laughs). Everyone was elated and the whole team was congratulating me. I can’t recollect anything as to what happened. Everyone was happy about my achievement. There’s one thing about our team - whether someone does well or not, we all stick together. That’s why these good things have happened to us.

Q. How inspiring are Unadkat and Cheteshwar Pujara for the dressing room?

Chirag Jani: Cheteshwar always advises all the batters if the conditions are difficult, how to play accordingly or how to play under pressure. He keeps sharing his experience with us.

Jaydev has been our captain for 4-5 years. We’ve been making finals for 3-4 years and have won trophies twice under him. He has been playing for so many years now that he has a very good idea about captaincy - how to take the team forward and how to motivate the players. He always asks us to give our best as per our potential and nothing more.

Whether it’s a big game or not, he asks us to deliver to our potential. He always keeps us positive and united. Be it a meeting or a match, he never puts us under pressure. Whether a bowler or a batter has had 2-3 bad matches, he backs everyone by saying that we all have the ability and to just bring out the same on the field.

Q. Not all teams are blessed with two quality seam-bowling all-rounders but Saurashtra can call upon you and Prerak Mankad. Do you exchange ideas and feed into each other’s game?

Chirag Jani: Why has our team been performing so well for the last five years? The reason is that our team has a number of all-rounders. We have spinning all-rounders, pace-bowling all-rounders and batting all-rounders. If you see, everyone can bat until 10 or 11. If you take the last five years you will see that the lower order has scored runs. If the top order hasn’t scored the lower order always has. Even while bowling, if we don’t get wickets (initially) then Prerak or I take wickets or a spinner will pick up a wicket. It depends on what the conditions are. We keep the pressure intact.

Of course, the odd bad game will be there and it’ll go up and down. But because we have so many all-rounders we stay on top and keep the pressure on. We attack from all ends. The conversations in our team are really nice. We talk to each other about how the conditions are playing, etc. So we plan well and look to execute well. That is how you form a winning team, right?

Q. What are your plans ahead of the upcoming Ranji Trophy? Do you have anything specific in mind in terms of approaching it given the change in formats?

Chirag Jani: After winning the Vijay Hazare Trophy, everyone’s been enjoying themselves. We had a 3-4 day break. Our camp is starting and we’ll get 4-5 days to practice. Having switched off, it’s time to switch on again. You need to play a more patient game and need a change in mindset. If you take part in 4-5 sessions it’ll automatically change. We’re playing seven matches this time - it’s a long season after COVID.

We have almost the same side that were crowned champions. So we’ll look to repeat the same and take it one game at a time. Our group is also tough so whatever we did in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, we’ll look to continue the same in the Ranji Trophy and get the desired result one after another.

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One job is done and it's onto the next now for Chirag Jani. If Saurashtra are to replicate their victorious 2019-20 Ranji Trophy campaign, one can be rest assured that Jani will have played a huge role.

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