Jaydev Unadkat, the Saurashtra captain, created history on Thursday (February 16) as he became the first Saurashtra bowler to claim 300 wickets in the Ranji Trophy.
He reached the milestone during the ongoing Ranji Trophy final against Bengal, which started on February 16 and is being played at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Saurashtra dominated Day 1 as they had Bengal on the back foot from the outset.
Unadkat, who was part of India’s squad for the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy, was released from the team so he could lead his domestic team Saurashtra in the Ranji Trophy 2023 Final. The 31-year-old chose to bowl after winning the toss and exploited the early conditions as he rattled Bengal’s top order from the first over.
The left-arm seamer dismissed Abhimanyu Easwaran, giving Bengal an early setback, from which they never recovered in their innings. Unadkat also removed Bengal captain Manoj Tiwary in the fifth over, and wrapped up Bengal’s innings at a modest 174, by catching and bowling Mukesh Kumar, and completing his historic feat of becoming the first-ever Saurashtra bowler to take 300 wickets in Ranji Trophy history.
This achievement was just another addition to his impressive list of records in domestic cricket. His previous record was taking the most wickets by a fast bowler in a single Ranji Trophy season.
He achieved this record back in the Ranji Trophy season of 2019-20, where he took 67 wickets in ten matches. Saurashtra had last won the trophy during the 2019-20 season and coincidentally, they had beaten Bengal in the final. Jaydev Unadkat was instrumental in that victory as well, as he took 7 wickets in the match and was named the Player of the Match. He will be hoping to repeat his heroics in this final as well and lead Saurashtra to their second consecutive Ranji Trophy title.
