‘I’ve worked hard on my fitness’

Midway through IPL-6, Royal Challengers Bangalore coach Ray Jennings had predicted that left-arm speedster Jaydev Unadkat would make a strong comeback to the India team in 18 months. The Porbandar-born lad not only proved his coach right and exceeded expectations by not only making it to the young India side for the Zimbabwe tour. On Monday, he was also retained in the squad (One T20 and three ODIs) for the home series against Australia. Unadkat, who fell off the radar after his debut Test in Centurion in 2010-, is now reaping fruits of his hard work. He picked up eight wickets in five ODIs in Zimbabwe, five wickets on India’s A tour to South Africa and eight wickets against West Indies A at home including a five-for. “I am happy at my selection and I am looking forward to doing well,” said Unadkat about his selection. The young bowler said that Zimbabwe tour gave him a lot of confidence. “I gained a lot of confidence from the Zimbabwe tour as I did very well. “I also got a five-for against West Indies A and I think playing in Zimbabwe helped me. I got to know more about my ability at the highest the level and in limited-overs after that tour.” Unadkat credited the turnaround in his performance to his improved fitness. Earlier this year, he had impressed many with a charged-up performance (32-3-73-0) in the Ranji finals against Mumbai. “I had worked hard on my fitness and that match was a testimony of my efforts. It was the 11th match of the season and despite playing all, I was still feeling strong from inside.” The Saurashtra bowler said he focussed on endurance training, a process that he is following for two seasons now. “I need to bowl consistently at 135kph throughout the game and not just with the new ball. “I was working on my strength for a couple of years and it has been going well for me. I have spent a lot of time in the gym and on building strength. All of that has helped me reach where I am now.”