In the ongoing Ranji Trophy final being played between Saurashtra and Mumbai, there have been two highlights – Shreyas Iyer’s batting, which currently places him 95 runs short of VVS Laxman’s 1415 runs in 1999/2000 as most runs in a season, with one innings to go; and Jaydev Unadkat’s bowling, whose dual tally of 327 runs and 38 wickets places him as the second best all-rounder for the season.
Mumbai, chasing Saurashtra’s first innings score of 235, were rocked early by Unadkat’s twin blows, and the lanky left-arm pacer came back towards the end of the lunch session to trouble the set partnership of Iyer and Surya Kumar Yadav too.
The 41st over of the innings was a maiden over, a perfect example why the rejuvenated Jaydev Unadkat is a feared prospect in the domestic circuit. Yadav, who was on strike, missed the first three balls, and tried to duck the fourth one. The ball followed him in its trajectory and crashed into the middle of the back of his helmet, as he turned his eyes away from the ball.
Unadkat immediately went over to the batsman to ensure he was fine, inspecting the back of the helmet. The two, though playing for rival teams in the Ranji final, will be seen playing together for Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL.
The fifth ball of the over straightened and beat Yadav’s bat too, and it was apparent that he was going through a tough time tackling Unadkat. The last ball of the over was shown a closed bat face, and it trickled to mid-wicket.
Here is the video of the fourth ball of the 41st over (via BCCI Domestic Twitter):
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