Last Updated: January 03, 2023, 10:50 AM IST
Jaydev Unadkat was in red-hot form. (AP Photo)
Delhi were left huffing and puffing after opting to bat on a green track in Rajkot as Saurashtra captain Jaydev Unadkat sliced through their batting order
Saurashtra captain Jaydev Unadkat took a hat-trick in the first over of his team’s fourth round match of the Ranji Trophy 2022-23 against Delhi on Day 1 in Rajkot. On a green track at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Unadkat removed Dhruv Shorey (0), Vaibhav Rawal (0) and Delhi captain Yash Dhull (0) off the third, fourth and fifth delivery in a stunning start.
Delhi’s decision to bat first on a green track defied logic and they paid the price soon enough, losing three wickets after just five deliveries without scoring a run.
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After leaving Delhi gasping for breath with his first over exploits, Unadkartcontinued the mayhem with with two more wickets in his second over as he sent back Jonty Sidhu (4) and Lalit Yadav (0) to complete his five-wicket haul in just 12 deliveries.
In between this, Chirag Jani also landed a blow when he got rid of the promoted Ayush Badoni for a duck in his first over as well.
Unadkat then trapped Lakshay Thareja lbw on to leave Delhi at a sorry 10/7 in just 5 overs.
At the time of publishing, Delhi were 39/7 in 12 overs with Pranshu Vijayaran (15*) and Hrithik Shokeen (14*) trying to launch a fightback.
Unadkat recently made his India Test comeback after a gap of 12 years during the 2nd Test against Bangladesh in Dhaka.
The left-arm pacer took his maiden wicket in the format when he dismissed Bangladesh opener Zakir Hasan.
“I was trying to extract bounce off length and I felt I could do that,” Unadkat had said. “The feeling [of bagging his first Test wicket] will remain one of the most special memories of my cricketing career. Getting a Test wicket is something I visualised 1000 times.
Unadkat had replaced Kuldeep Yadav in a decision that polarised opinions since the latter won player of the match award for his career-best show in India’s win in the first Test.
“I got my chance as the management felt I was suited to the pitch. The conditions were similar (to Rajkot). (There was) not a lot of pace off the wicket and you will have to extract whatever you can by hitting the length hard. I knew if I will stick to my strengths, there will be something coming my way and that is how I got that extra bounce,” the 31-year-old said.
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