Saurashtra captain Jaydev Unadkat has concerns about the postponements of Ranji Trophy as it could have a huge impact on the bowler's skills. The Ranji Trophy season has been put on hold along with other domestic tournaments by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) as the current Covid-19 situation in India has impacted the domestic circuit. According to Unadkat, the BCCI should take appropriate measures to assure the safety of the players and stage the red-ball tournament.
“Two years in a row would be a great loss. One year itself was a great loss. When we started our pre-season camp before the eventual postponement, it felt like a whole new game.
“Leaving the ball, bowling with pace and bowling long spells. All that had gone out of the picture. It is going to be difficult for sure if it doesn’t happen this year too,” Unadkat said in a conversation with PTI.
The historic domestic tournament season was canceled in 2020-21 due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. Unadkat, who has played one Test for India, feels the lack of red-ball cricket has diminished the skills of bowlers and batters. The pacer who was part of the Saurashtra side that won the Ranji Trophy title in March 2020 said that red-ball cricket should return as early as February with strict norms of bio-bubble.
“I hear that BCCI is keen on staging it. If the virus situation doesn’t become threatening, we can have it in February with a stricter bubble and more vigilance,” Unadkat asserted.
The left-arm pacer had a season to remember prior to the Covid-19 shutdown in 2020, where he picked up 67 wickets and was instrumental in the team's progress. He feels that canceling the current season could be a huge blow and can hamper the progress of players.
“For batters, even when I was batting I left the first ball alone it felt very different to be honest. I had not left a ball in two years of my batting practice. Probably the same for all batters barring the openers who were doing it even in one-dayers.
“For the bowlers, bowling that full length and trying to swing the ball but people were trying different things and were bowling a few balls. It was bound to happen with such a long gap. It will hamper the skills of cricketers for sure if there is a two-year gap,” the 30-year-old said on his experience in the training camp.
The 30-year-old also feels that the BCCI should give compensation to players who haven't been regular at the domestic circuit but have contributed to the team's cause.
“See the maximum that BCCI can do is compensate players like last year but that is only for the guys who played the year before. The guys who were not part of that squad and are on the fringes it is more difficult for them.
“May be the state associations can take the initiative. Whosoever was on the brink of selection, for example if top 20 are being compensated by the BCCI, the next 20 to have to be taken care of,’ the left-arm pacer added.
Finally, he spoke about the role of white-ball cricket and feels he has evolved his game considerably to be part of one of the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises.
“White ball cricket has been happening and I am improving on that front. I just hope I get a team where I can actually get to show my skills in a versatile role,” the player concluded.
