Pretoria, Aug 21: Zaheer Khan is running the last leg of his illustrious career of 13 years and chief coach Duncan Fletcher knows what a potent left-arm seamer like Jaydev Unadkat can bring to the table once ‘Zak’ is ready to call it quits.
May be that is the reason the veteran Zimbabwean has been spending quality time with young Saurashtra left-arm seamer.
“Fletcher was very impressed with Unadkat’s bowling in Zimbabwe and is devoting a lot of time on him. Even after customary net session, Fletcher is spending one-on-one time with the young lad. He is showing him the proper wrist position to get more swing, how to use crease, etc. Unadkat’s disciplined approach has also caught Fletcher’s attention,” a member of the support staff said today.
With Ashish Nehra no longer in scheme of things and Rudra Pratap Singh’s career graph showing steep decline, Unadkat could be India’s best bet as far as left-arm swing bowling is concerned.
A Collector’s Item called ‘SD-248’:
Shikhar Dhawan’s epic 248 in a List A match is still talk of the town and India A’s team manager Subir Ganguly is a “proud owner” of a CD which has that innings.
“Since the match wasn’t shown live on any South African channel, the only option was to get a CD from our video analyst as this is a collector’s item. What the few of us were witness to that day was special and unforgettable. I can proudly say that a CD of Shikhar’s 248 is in my possession. And I am certainly not sharing it with anyone,” says Ganguly.
A trip to Sun City’s Crocodile Park:
After a facile victory in the first ‘Test’ it was time to unwind and some of the boys enjoyed a trip to the Sun City and its famous ‘Crocodile Park’. Since a lot of players in this team have toured South Africa either with national team or their IPL franchises, it was a selected few who went for the trip.
It’s biryani over Fish ‘n’ chips:
Cricket South Africa has roped in a few Indian chefs who are trying to cater to the taste buds of the Indian star players.
“The players gorge on chicken and mutton biryani but it’s not easy to arrange them in large quantities. But at times, we see that guys like Raina and Dhawan sharing their food with some of the newer guys. In Pretoria, there is an India restaurant where the players often call up to order some roti and subzi when they get tired of Fish ‘n’ chips,” manager Ganguly informed. (PTI)
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