Jaydev Unadkat became the most expensive Indian player to be sold in during the player auction for the Indian Premier League’s this season.
The left-arm pacer attracted a successful bid of A$2.3 million from inaugural IPL champion, the Rajasthan Royals.
The 26-year-old has played a Test match, 7 One-Day Internationals and four T20 matches for India. He played the maiden test match against South Africa in 2010- the same year that he played U-19 world cup for India.
He made his ODI debut in 2013 against Zimbabwe. Unadkat has also played four T20 matches and has four wickets to his name. But IPL is where he has left a lasting impression. He has 56 wickets at an average of just over 23 in the league.
But during the 12 months, he has emerged as a very disciplined bowler in the T20 format and is best known for being very frugal, which perhaps can explain why the Rajasthan Royals broke the bank to bag him for their side, besides getting a call for India's T20 squad against South Africa.
Unadkat was training with his Saurashtra team for the Vijay Hazare Trophy while different IPL franchises were vying for him during the second day of the player auction.
“After the physio told me that my bidding is on, I was hooked onto the live streaming for the next 15 minutes and found it surreal. The entire team stopped it’s training to watch my bidding,” Unadkat told PTI.
He did not expect to command the price that he did.
“Honestly, I did not have any amount in mind. The past two years have been pretty good for me and after last year’s IPL, I expected a good bid. But yes, I was really amazed at the kind of bidding that happened. It is indeed surprising for me that franchises were ready to pay so much for a fast bowler,” he said.
Unadkat was a very good student in school and had scored 91 per cent marks in his 10th standard board exams and 86 per cent in year 12 studying commerce. He says his academic ability helps him make quick decisions.
“I would never say that being a good student ensures that you will be a good sportsman. There are a lot who are not academically inclined. But yes, I wouldn’t say it doesn’t help when it comes to taking spot decisions -- a necessity in T20 cricket. May be at one level, if you have been good in studies, it can help you in becoming a good student of the game,” he said.
Unadkat bagged a higher price in the auctions than KL Rahul and Manish Pandey who, in the recent times, have played more international games for India. Both Rahul and Pandey were bought for A$2.2 million each.
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