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Left-arm pacer Jaydev Unadkat made a comeback to Test cricket after 12 years on Thursday, December 22, when he was picked in the Indian XI for the match against Bangladesh in Dhaka.
With his return to the national team after a long gap, Unadkat is now second on the list of players with the most consecutive Test matches missed between appearances - 118. The previous record among Indian cricketers was held by Dinesh Karthik - 87 Tests.
Unadkat was added to the Indian squad after Mohammed Shami was ruled out due to injury. The 31-year-old from Saurashtra made an impressive comeback to the Test arena, bowling a tight first spell and picking up the wicket of Bangladesh opener Zakir Hasan for 15. The hosts went to lunch at 82/2 on Day 1 of the second Test of the series.
Jaydev Unadkat’s teammates from his debut Test
Unadkat made his Test debut against South Africa in Centurion in December 2010. It was a forgettable game for the newcomer as he went wicketless in 26 overs, conceding 101 runs.
South Africa went on to thump India by an innings and 25 runs. In the wake of the left-arm seamer’s comeback to the Indian Test team after 12 long years, we take a look at what Unadkat’s teammates from his debut Test are doing now.
Gautam Gambhir
After being dismissed for five in the first innings of the Centurion Test, Gautam Gambhir scored 80 in the second. After being in and out of the team towards the latter half of his career, he retired in 2018.
Gambhir joined the political party BJP post-retirement. He is also the mentor of Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the IPL. Recently, he was elevated to “global mentor” by the Sanjiv Goenka-led RPSG Group. This means he will also mentor Durban Super Giants in SA20.
Virender Sehwag
The former India opener registered scores of 0 and 63 in the Centurion Test. Virender Sehwag went on to represent India till 2013 before being dropped due to poor form.
Sehwag announced his retirement in 2015 and remains the only Indian batter with two Test triple-hundreds. He has taken to commentary post-retirement and is also popular for his witty social media posts.
Rahul Dravid
The Indian legend registered scores of 14 and 43 in Unadkat’s debut Test. After a stellar career, he announced his retirement from international cricket in March 2012. Rahul Dravid remains seventh on the list of batters with the most international runs - 24208.
He coached the India U19 team that won the World Cup in 2018. He was also the National Cricket Academy (NCA) chief and is currently the head coach of the senior national team.
Sachin Tendulkar
The Master Blaster scored 36 and 111* in the Centurion Test against the Proteas. He retired from the game in November 2013, holding most of the prominent batting records in international cricket.
Sachin Tendulkar amassed 34357 runs in a sensational career and remains the only player with 100 international tons. He mentors Mumbai Indians (MI) in the IPL and keeps sharing his views on his YouTube channel.
VVS Laxman
The former Indian middle-order batter scored seven and eight in Unadkat’s debut Test. VVS Laxman retired in 2012 after a fantastic career. He scored 8781 runs in 134 Tests and 2338 runs in 86 ODIs.
Laxman is currently chief of the NCA, succeeding Dravid in the role. He has also acted as stand-in head coach for the national team in Dravid’s absence.
Suresh Raina
The former left-handed batter was dismissed for one and five in Centurion. While he couldn’t establish himself in the Test format, Suresh Raina was a pillar of strength in the Indian limited-overs squad for a decade.
He retired from international cricket on the same day as MS Dhoni (August 15, 2020) and quit all forms of the game in September this year.
Raina represented Deccan Gladiators in the Abu Dhabi T10 recently. He has also taken up commentary stints.
MS Dhoni
MS Dhoni was India’s captain in Unadkat's debut Test. He played defiant knocks with the bat, scoring 33 and 90 as the visitors went down fighting. Having already lifted the T20 World Cup in 2007, Dhoni went on to lead India to an ODI World Cup win in 2011 and a Champions Trophy triumph in 2013.
He last represented India at the 2019 ODI World Cup and announced his retirement the following year. He will lead Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in IPL 2023. According to reports, Dhoni will quit cricket completely as a player after the edition.
Harbhajan Singh
Former off-spinner Harbhajan Singh registered figures of 2/169 from 36 overs in Unadkat’s debut Test match. He ended his international career with 711 wickets in 367 matches across the three formats of the game, the last of which came in 2016.
Harbhajan continued to play the IPL, before announcing his retirement from all forms of cricket in December 2021. He now appears as an expert on TV channels and some YouTube shows.
Ishant Sharma
Pacer Ishant Sharma claimed 2/120 in 27.1 overs in the Centurion Test in 2010. He went on to become the leader of the Indian pace attack after Zaheer Khan’s retirement. Ishant has played 105 Tests for India, claiming 311 wickets.
He has not played a Test for India since the match against New Zealand in Kanpur in November 2021. The veteran pacer is representing Delhi in the ongoing Ranji Trophy.
S Sreesanth
S Sreesanth went wicketless in the 24 overs that he bowled in Unadkat’s debut Test, conceding 97 runs. He was dropped from the Indian team in 2011 over form and fitness issues.
His cricketing career came to a grinding halt after allegations of spot-fixing in the IPL were leveled against him in 2013.
After a seven-year ban, he returned to domestic cricket in January 2021. Sreesanth announced his retirement from the game in March 2022. He represented Bhilwara Kings in the Legends League Cricket earlier this year.
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