Jaydev Unadkat shares post on Test-cricket journey with memento kits from debut and comeback games

Indian cricketer Jaydev Unadkat donned the whites for India after a decade-long wait in the final Test match of the Bangladesh series. Notably, the 31-year-old pacer made his second Test appearance at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium. It took almost 12 years for the Gujarat bowler to return to red-ball cricket. Unadkat made his debut under the leadership of former Indian captain MS Dhoni during a South Africa tour back on 16 December 2010. Thus, the comeback has emerged as one of the most significant events of his cricketing journey.

Referring to the memorable feat, Unadkat took to Twitter and shared two special photographs with the caption reading, “To the journey of all those years in between.” The first picture depicts the jersey from his debut Test, while the other one has the one he wore in the Bangladesh game.

Unadkat’s teammates from the 2010 Test in Centurion gave their signatures on the memento shirt. The names of legendary cricketers like Dhoni, Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid, Harbhajan Singh, and Zaheer Khan can be spotted on the white jersey.

The same pattern was followed in the recent “No. 267” kit too. As seen in the image, new-generation icons including Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Chetashwar Pujara, and Rishabh Pant signed on it. Most interestingly, only three fellows were common in both squads. Apart from Unadkat, another veteran seamer Umesh Yadav and 34-year-old batter Pujara were also part of that Africa-bound unit although Yadav did not get to play a match during the tour. He finally featured in his maiden Test in November 2011 against West Indies on home soil.

Unadkat’s lack of consistency and the strong competition inside the Indian team kept him far from Test cricket. He could not pick up any wickets in his debut game against the Proteas. But this time, the left-arm quick made an immense contribution to his side’s thrilling 3-wicket victory in the second Test. He fetched a total of three scalps during both Bangladesh innings. He also got some runs with the bat scoring 14 and 13 runs respectively in two innings.