"There were screams and joy and ecstasy" - Jaydev Unadkat on how he reacted to his India call-up after 12 years
Team India's left-arm pacer Jaydev Unadkat recently spoke about how he felt after being added to the Test team for the Bangladesh series in December last year.
Unadkat, who returned to India's Test team 12 years after making his debut, mentioned that he was in a car with his family when he received a call from chief selector Chetan Sharma. The 31-year-old stated that he was delighted and was screaming in joy after getting to know about his selection.
Speaking to ESPNcricinfo, he said:
"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. 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."
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Unadkat mentioned that he felt as if he was making his Test debut for the second time. He spoke about being starstruck at seeing the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid when he first entered the Indian dressing room in 2010.
He noted that things were a lot different on this occasion. The 31-year-old maintained that he was confident of doing well for the team.
On this, Unadkat said:
"Yes, it did. As soon as I got into the dressing room I felt I belonged there, more than I felt back then in 2010. Obviously, the dressing room was full of legends back then. Not that it's not now. But, yeah, the guys who I used to cheer, who I used to watch on TV when I was young - Sachin [Tendulkar] bhai, [Virender] Sehwag, Lacchi [VVS Laxman] bhai, Rahul [Dravid] bhai - all of them were very much part of the team.
"I was a little starstruck. But now, like I said, there was this sense of belongingness and I straightaway felt that I could contribute towards achieving something special for this team."
Notably, Unadkat impressed many with his bowling exploits in the second and final Test of the series in Bangladesh. The seamer bagged three wickets in the fixture and received widespread praise for his tidy spells.
"I can proudly say that I'm a handy lower-order batter" - Jaydev Unadkat
Jaydev Unadkat further went on to say that he wasn't very capable with the bat when he made his Test debut in 2010.
The talented seamer stated that upon re-watching the video of his first-ever Test, he realized that he could not even hold the bat properly back then. Unadkat, however, suggested that his batting has improved significantly over the years.
He said:
"I was just watching a video on YouTube of when I made my debut in 2010. Looking at my batting back then, I was like, 'Wow, I couldn't hold a bat properly back then.' And now I can proudly say that I'm a handy lower-order batter, not just a tailender."
It is worth mentioning that Unadkat has eight half-centuries to his name in first-class cricket. He was sent in at No. 6 as a nightwatchman during India's second innings of the second Test against Bangladesh. He had scores of 14* and 13 with the bat in the match.