Jaydev Unadkat
After a remarkable comeback against Bangladesh breathed new life into Jaydev Unadkat’s international career, he got the new year off to a strong start in Tuesday’s Ranji Trophy Group C match against Delhi in Rajkot. Thanks to his efforts, Delhi was able to pull off the victory. When he completed his hat trick in the first over, he made history in the 88-year history of the Ranji Trophy.
Previously, no player had ever taken a hat-trick in the first over of a Ranji Trophy match, but that all changed when Jaydev Unadkat did it. Beginning 2023 on a high note, the captain of Saurashtra, whose international career was revitalised by a remarkable comeback against Bangladesh, won his first Ranji Trophy Group C match of the year on Tuesday in Rajkot. His performance in the second innings against Bangladesh revitalised his career. Unadkat was unable to play for Saurashtra in their first two matches of the season due to commitments in India, but the left-arm fast bowler made an immediate impact in his first red-ball cricket appearance of the year.
Here in Delhi
who had lost a large portion of their cricket team to injuries were completely flummoxed by Unadkat’s dominance. After the visitors opted to bat first, the in-form batsman for Delhi, Dhruv Shorey, was knocked out by the left-arm spinner in the third over of the match. At the same time when Unadkat was hitting his third consecutive six, Vaibhav Rawal and Delhi’s captain, Yash Dhull, were sent back to the dugout for being caught in the act. By the end of the game, Unadkat had taken three wickets. During this sequence of events, Dhull was caught in front of the wickets and Rawa edged the ball to the keeper, Harvik Desai. Vinay Kumar of Karnataka claimed the record for the fastest hat trick in Ranji Trophy history when he achieved it in the first three overs. Unadkat was still going strong. The 97-match first-class veteran bowled a sensational first over that startled Delhi, and then he bowled another terrific over in his second over to finish with five wickets. He now has 21 five-wicket hauls in his stellar first-class career. Jonty Sidhu hit four runs in this over, while Lakshay Thareja, making his debut, hit one.
Amongst Unadkat’s chaos
After Chirag Jani had rookie Ayush Badoni out for a duck off three balls, Delhi’s batting lineup was unable to recover. Delhi barely had 5 or 6 runs at the end of the third over. Jani’s second over was the only one in which no wickets fell, and it remained that way until Unadkat removed Lalit Yadav with the third ball of his fifth over. Delhi only managed 10 runs before they lost seven wickets. Four of their best six batters were sent packing by Unadkat, and they were unable to reach base as a team. Thankfully, Pranshu Vijayran and Hrithik