Days after Ranji Trophy triumph, Unadkat announces engagement

Unadkat enjoyed a splendid Ranji Trophy season and accounted for 67 wickets at 13.23

unadkat-rinny-ranji-twitter Unadkat with his fiancée Rinny (left); kisses the Ranji Trophy | via Twitter

Two days after leading Saurashtra to a maiden Ranji Trophy title, pacer Jaydev Unadkat announced his engagement on Sunday.

The 28-year-old from Porbandar posted a picture of his fiancée Rinny and himself on his social media accounts, announcing the news.

"6 hours, 2 meals & 1 shared mud cake later..," Unadkat wrote along with a ring and a heart emoticon.

India Test player and Saurashtra teammate Cheteshwar Pujara congratulated the bowler.

"Welcome to the family Rinny. I am so glad that my brother @JUnadkat has found the love of his life. P:S - You have to deal with a lot of bromance," Pujara wrote.

Punjab pacer Siddharth Kaul, all-rounder Mandeep Singh and and Vidarbha all-rounder Faiz Fazal were some of the other cricketers who congratulated Unadkat.

Unadkat enjoyed a splendid Ranji Trophy season and accounted for 67 wickets at 13.23, including match-winning spells on the last day of both the semifinal and the final respectively. He took seven wickets against Gujarat and on Friday, dismissed a well-set Anustup Majumdar before effecting a run out in the same over to tilt the game decisively in his team's favour.

Now that he is a Ranji Trophy winner, Unadkat said he hoped that "people" will not talk only about his IPL riches now. He said the hunger to make an India comeback has never been stronger following a sensational season.

"I still have that hunger to make a comeback. The hunger has never been stronger than this and that actually kept me going throughout the season. To be honest, it was challenging physically surviving the season. Bowling those long spells as a fast bowler in almost every game," said Unadkat after captaining Saurashtra to their maiden trophy.

"I just want to keep this phase going. I don't want to end it here. Yes, we have won the trophy and I am the happiest captain in the world right now, if I can say that.

The 28-year-old last played for India in 2018—a T20 International against Bangladesh. He played his only Test in 2010 and last of his seven ODIs in 2013.

His good friend and Saurashtra teammate Cheteshwar Pujara fully endorsed Unadkat's views.

"I agree Jaydev has bowled exceptionally well throughout the season. If someone takes 67 wickets in a season, I don't think there is anyone who can perform better in the Ranji Trophy. There has to be lot of importance to Ranji Trophy performance to get picked for the Indian team," Pujara said.

"Jaydev was modest that he would not be thinking about the Indian call but I will be surprised if he is not picked in the Indian team," said the Test specialist who too made a crucial contribution despite being unwell.

Unadkat, who twice went for the big bucks in the IPL auction and is a main player for Rajasthan Royals, is glad that he has achieved a long-pending dream.

"The second question about IPL does matter a lot to me. I have been working harder than many guys, as hard as any other cricketer in the country to earn my rewards. It was not just the IPL on my mind at any time. Yes, there was auction happening and people were talking just about that but this was something I really wanted to (win Ranji Trophy).

"I wanted to do it for the team, I wanted to do it for myself. I wanted to prove to myself that I don't want to play the game for something other than cricket. I started playing this game because I was so passionate about it," he said.

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