Saurashtra skipper Jaydev Unadkat is hoping for a comeback from Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja in the Ranji Trophy Round 7 match against Tamil Nadu, which starts in Chennai on 24 January.
The 34-year-old Jadeja suffered a knee injury during India’s Asian Cup campaign and has been out of action since September 2022. The Saurashtra star will compete at his T20 Worlds in India in Australia. The Cup did not participate in his campaign. Jadeja is still working out in fitness at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bangalore.
Meanwhile, the BCCI senior selection committee last week announced India representatives for his first two borders his Gavaskar his Test with Australia. With the series set to begin in Nagpur on February 9, BCCI reportedly said Jadeja’s participation was conditional on fitness and asked him to prove the same with Lanji’s outing.
Regarding Jadeja’s recordings, Unadkat said:
“I hear that too (Jadeja is playing next week). Honestly, it would be great if he showed up and I’m sure he will do well in training with the NCA. If he plays for Saurashtra, I hope he makes a comeback.”
Once Jadeja clears the fitness hurdle, Indian teammate Cheteshwar will join Pujara and Unadkat.
Jadeja was last seen at his Ranji Trophy game in November 2018. The availability of a left arm spinner remains crucial for India, who emerged as wicket takers (25) in the final Border Gavasker series at home in 2017.
Protection from complacency
Saurastra has one leg left in the knockout rounds, leading elite Group B by 26 points, but Unadkat insisted there was no room for complacency.
“It’s almost [the quarter-finals] but it’s not over yet. It’s a tough group and the teams are fighting hard. The other teams are also aware of the table and will play hard until the end,” he said Unadkat. Told. It is unclear if Pujara’s Unadkat will take part in the quarter-finals, which start on 31 January, if Saurashtra qualify. Unadkat, who is on the road to a comeback with the Indian test team, said Saurashtra has been doing pretty well in his absence and is taking inspiration from the first three rounds, as Saurashtra has his two draws. (First time lead) and won a big victory against Mumbai in late December.
“The team now has the belief that they will win in any situation. This is the result of a lot of work over the last five years in four days of games. We fully support our players and most of them have played over 40-50 games. Everyone alone was enough to win the match,” he said Unadkat.