KKR Is My Second Home: Unadkat

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Jaydev Unadkat. Image Source: Twitter@JUnadkat

Kolkata:  Jaydev Unadkat will be returning to Kolkata Knight Riders after a gap of 4 years. He started his IPL career with Kolkata Knight Riders in 2010 and played till 2012 when KKR lifted their first IPL trophy Then he was bought by RCB in 2013 and then by Delhi Daredevils the following year where he was till the last IPL.

Unadkat’s base price was 30 lakhs before the auction and he was bought by KKR for 1.6 crores, the highest paid player in the KKR ranks in this year’s auction.

He had an excellent stint with his state team Saurashtra in the Ranji Trophy knock out stage this year. In the Quarter-final he scalped 9 wickets for 105 runs against Vidarbha and 11 wickets for 122 runs against Assam in the Semi-final stage recently.

KKR have a formidable pace attack comprising of Umesh Yadav, Morne Morkel, Jason Holder, John Hastings, Ankit Rajpoot and Andre Russell. They have a strong slow bowling options comprising of Sunil Narine, Brad Hogg, Piyush Chawla, Manan Sharma and Shakib-Al-Hasan.

We had a chance of speaking with Jaydev Unadkat exclusively.

Here are the excerpts:

XT: You have been again bought by KKR in the recent auction from where you commenced your IPL career in 2010?

Unadkat: I am very happy to be back with KKR from where I started my IPL stint. According to me, IPL means KKR. If you ask me, I would say Kolkata is my second home after Saurashtra.

XT: Wasim Akram quoted as saying about you in 2010,” This is the boy to watch out for”. Now it’s 2016 and you are quite a matured bowler. What are the tips from the “Sultan Of Swing”?

Unadkat: I had a great experience working with Wasim Bhai in my first stint with KKR. If you remember, I used to stay attached with Wasim Bhai be it in the team hotel, breakfast lounge or at the dugout. He taught me how to stay cool and calm in different match situations. I am hopeful that I will gain a lot more from Wasim Bhai which will help me in the near future.

XT: You had a successful Domestic season with Saurashtra but T20 is totally a different ball game. How do you modify yourself?

Unadkat: In the last few years, I played IPL for different franchisees. I have modified myself as a bowler. I am quite matured now. To do well in T20 you need to use a lot of variations  I have worked hard on slower and slower bouncers and other variations too.

XT: KKR pace line up comprises of Morkel, Umesh Yadav, John Hastings, Jason Holder etc. How do you rate your pacers? Do they have that arsenal to put pressure on the opponent batsmen?

Unadkat: Our pace bowling line-up is very balanced. Generally Eden wicket helps the spinners. We have a excellent bowling line up.

XT: You are saying about spinners. But your No.1 spinner is still banned from bowling by the ICC. But if he does not get the release from ICC before IPL, then will it be a disadvantge?

Unadkat: But I feel the team management has retained Narine knowing his capability. Sunil Narine’s presence and absence makes a huge difference in the team. It’s true. His absence will hurt us definitely.

XT: You joined KKR under the captaincy of Sourav Ganguly. Then you won the trophy under Gautam Gambhir’s captaincy. How do you compare both of them?

Unadkat: Both of them are different in their nature. Their thinking differs. Dada has been a successful leader for India while Gautam Gambhir has been a successful with KKR. But one thing is similar. They both are aggressive. I have played under both of them. Both of them backs their bowlers whenever they go through a bad spell.

XT: Lastly what do you want to say to your KKR fans?

Unadkat: I have received a lot of support from all the Kolkata cricket lovers. They are very passionate about their game.So my message for all the KKR fans would be, ”Keep supporting me. Keep supporting KKR. We will not let you down.”