Delhi got off to one of the poorest starts in their ongoing Ranji Trophy match against Saurashtra at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot on Tuesday. Six of their 11 batters were dismissed without even opening their account as the side was eventually bundled out for 133 runs. The wrecker-in-chief was none other than Saurashtra skipper Jaydev Unadkat, who returned figures of 8 for 39 in 12 overs. In the first over of the game, Unadkat took a hat-trick and became the first bowler to do so in the history of the Ranji Trophy.
Unadkat started with the wicket of Dhruv Shorey that came on the third ball of the over. On the next ball, he dismissed Vaibhav Rawal, while Yash Dhull became his third consecutive victim in the first over after the Delhi skipper won the toss and opted to bat first in the game.
However, that was not the end of the story as Unadkat piled more misery on Delhi and later claimed the wickets of Jonty Sidhu, Lalit Yadav, Lakshay Thareja, Shivank Vashisht, and Kuldip Yadav, to finish the Delhi innings with his career-best innings figures in first-class cricket. His previous best was 7 for 41.
It is worth noting that Unadkat recently got his much-awaited chance in Test cricket and he kept his “promise” with a spirited effort in his first game for India after 12 years.
The 31-year-old, who had played his first and only Test way back in 2010 with the great Sachin Tendulkar and current head coach Rahul Dravid being his celebrated teammates, featured in his second outing last month, in a match against Bangladesh. In the game, Unadkat had picked three wickets.
