Jaydev Unadkat to replace injured Mohammed Shami for Bangladesh Test series

The left-arm pacer Jaydev Unadkat has finally earned an opportunity to represent India in the upcoming Test series against Bangladesh. After a tremendous season in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, the speedster will be flying to Bangladesh to replace Mohammed Shami, who suffered a shoulder injury before the ODI series.

In the recently concluded Vijay Hazare Trophy, Unadkat returned back to his absolute best by picking 19 wickets in 10 matches. He led Saurashtra to cup success and thus, earned his place back into the national team.

The 31-year-old made his Test debut against South Africa in 2010 but hasn’t featured in any other match ever since. Thus, if he indeed gets to play either of the Tests against Bangladesh, the Porbandar-born cricketer will set the record for the lengthiest gap between two Tests among Indian cricketers. Former wicket-keeper batter Parthiv Patel currently holds the position at the top.

Overall, Unadkat has picked 353 wickets in 96 First-Class matches in his career, which includes a marvellous season of 2019-20, where he picked up 67 wickets in the Ranji Trophy and helped his team win the prestigious domestic tournament.

Other probable changes in the Indian squad

Even though nothing is official, reports claim that the Indian captain is likely to miss the first Test against Bangladesh. Abhimanyu Easwaran, who’s currently in Bangladesh for India A tour is likely to replace Rohit Sharma in case he fails to recover on time. 

Easwaran on the other hand has been in sensational touch. Opening the innings, the 27-year-old scored back-to-back centuries against Bangladesh A and his numbers in domestic tournaments are phenomenal. In 78 First Class matches so far, the Dehra Dun-born cricketer scored 5576 runs at an average of 45.33. On the other hand, Saurabh Kumar is likely to replace all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja for the Test series. Like Easwaran, he is currently with the India A team.

Likely squad for 1st Test (December 14-18): KL Rahul (C), Shubman Gill, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (WK, VC), KS Bharat (WK), Saurabh Kumar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Jaydev Unadkat, Mohd. Siraj and Umesh Yadav.