IPL 2024: ‘I am still learning, and T20 for me is all about evolving,’ says Jaydev Unadkat
Jaydev Unadkat comes across as a personality with a cool and calm demeanour, and the Sunrisers Hyderabad pacer is all set for a major milestone when the Orange Army takes on the Delhi Capitals in an away IPL 2024 game on Saturday.
Unadkat will be playing his 100th IPL game, having made his debut in 2010 with the Kolkata Knight Riders.
The 32-year-old Saurashtra bowler, who has represented Delhi Daredevils, Mumbai Indians, Rising Pune Supergiant, Rajasthan Royals, Lucknow Super Giants, and Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the past, has taken 95 wickets at an economy of 8.98 with two five-wicket hauls.
Ahead of his landmark match, Unadkat, in an exclusive chat, spoke to Sportstar about his career, touched upon the Sunrisers performance, and gave his thoughts on the Impact Player and how the two-bouncer rule has been a boon to the bowlers.
Excerpts from the Interview
Q) You will be playing your 100th IPL match. How are you feeling, and what are your thoughts?
A) I think it’s one of those feelings you get when you have lasted for so long, and I think when I played my 100th First-Class game, it was a great feeling, and you feel satisfied that you have done quite a few things right to reach where you are at this moment. If I look at my career, especially in the IPL there are ups and downs, and it has been a roller coaster for sure. I am happy with where I am at the moment. Happy in the space I am in and keep continuing towards achieving the team’s goals. I am still learning, and T20 for me is all about evolving. It’s very challenging and demands evolution more than any other tournament.
Q) You have played for seven IPL franchises. Which stint did you enjoy the best?
A) I really can’t pick one favourite out but I had some good seasons. The more the number of wickets, the better it is for a bowler. Rising Pune Supergiant was good, had a good year with Rajasthan Royals as well, and had a good season with Royal Challengers Bangalore. So they have all been good and have been great learnings. As I have played with many players and franchises, it gives me a perspective to go into everyone’s minds and see what the common points that every team looks for, and what I have come up with is that the teams look to do things differently. It’s an enriching experience.
Q) This has been a bright start for the Sunrisers Hyderabad this season, and your partnership with Pat Cummins has been amazing. Can you talk us through the bowling aspect, especially in the middle overs?
A) It’s been a great first few games in terms of the way the team has done, and also we have played with a lot of freedom and a sense of belongingness with the team, and this doesn’t come easily in IPL because the players will have to come in and gel together into a new team set-up, and then everything comes into place. It can take quite some time if the players are new to each other. But SRH has done really well by retaining the core players, and Cummins has taken things in his stride really well. Both he and Dan Vettori go really well together as well. Pat keeps things simple and has been a really good leader on the field, and he has been having those chats with all of us bowlers as well. As I said, it’s been really tough on the bowlers, and it’s important to be on the same page even if we get hit. I love having those chats with him in the middle and have loved playing for SRH.
Q) The batsmen have been backing the bowlers’ efforts by going hard at the top. How good has Abhishek Sharma in particular been?
A) It’s down to setting up, creating the environment, and expressing themselves to the fullest. I think the key factor here is sticking to the same things even if you don’t do well. Sometimes the conditions are not favourable and you don’t do well as a unit, but it’s important to stick together, and the leadership group has done well. For guys like Travis and Abhishek, it suits their gameplay well and they attack the ball from the get-go. The leadership group has endorsed the attacking style of play and we are going to stick to it.
Q) What is your take on the Impact Player Rule?
A) I believe that it has changed the dynamics of the game and it’s there for everyone to see. It has made life a little bit more difficult for the bowlers to get a wicket and get a couple of dot balls against the new batter or to pick three or four wickets in the PowerPlay to ring in the lower order. Those were the key factors for the bowlers to take advantage of, but now it doesn’t really happen because there is one extra batter in the team and one extra bowler in the team and if a particular bowler is not doing well, you can just choose to not use the bowler on that particular day and you can still get a chance. So it works both ways. It’s just that it brings the essence of balancing things out because if I think from a captain’s point of view, it’s much easier as well. Other players will have their opinions and that’s a good thing as it gives the right balance to the game.
Q) The two-bouncers rule has been a boon for the bowlers. What’s your observation so far in the tournament?
A) It’s been really good. Honestly, batsmen have evolved, and bowlers need some sort of leverage, and this is a really good aspect when you have two bouncers to keep the batsmen guessing. And that’s one thing the bowlers nowadays can look to do because doesn’t matter how good you are bowling and executing your yorkers, except if you are Jasprit Bumrah – but for everyone else, you need different skills, and that’s why the two bouncer rule has been really good.
Q) Your association with Sussex, where you featured in the final four County Championship games, taking 11 wickets to help Sussex to a third-place finish in Division Two. How important is playing County cricket in this era of T20s?
A) It’s a different version and even after playing red-ball cricket for a long time, it’s one of the experiences. I played County cricket last season, and even though I played the Ranji Trophy for a good 10–12 years, I would say it’s an experience where you can get a lot of it in terms of being a professional because you have a lot of responsibilities on your shoulders, the conditions are different, and the players are not the ones with whom you would play for the state. It’s been a great experience for me and I am going back to Sussex this season to play in the English summer, something that I am looking forward to.