After missing the first three Ranji Trophy matches of Saurashtra due to his sudden Test recall, the Saurashtra captain returned all guns blazing as his 8 for 39 blew away a hapless Delhi on 133 in their first innings.

On a surface, where both the teams played three spinners and the captains wanted to bat first, it was Jaydev Unadkat’s left-arm seam, which was doing all the talking.

After his impressive outing against Delhi, the 31-year-old credits his newfound confidence to his Test recall. “The confidence I have got from the Bangladesh series is something that I would cherish throughout the games I will play from now onwards,” Unadkat told reporters after the match.

Since making his Test debut against South Africa in Centurion in December 2010, to playing against Bangladesh in Mirpur last month, the left-arm seamer had missed 118 Tests in between his appearances. It is a record for India as he overtook Dinesh Karthik (87 Tests).

His performance with the ball will again put him on selectors’ radar but Unadkat is not in a hurry as he wants to take one game at a time. “I will take one game at a time. It has helped me in the past and It will help me in the future as well,” he said. “A Ranji Trophy game is of the same importance for me as any other game I play, so at the moment I am focused on the next couple of matches.”

Undakat set the tone in the first over when he cleaned up season’s highest run scorer Dhruv Shorey (579 runs in seven innings) for a duck. Vaibhav Rawal edged the next ball to the wicketkeeper Harvik Desai before Unadkat trapped Yash Dhull to complete his hat-trick.

He was not done yet. In the next over, he completed his 21st five-wicket haul as he got the wickets of Jonty Sidhu (4) and Lalit Yadav (0). Delhi were 5 for 6, with Unadkat’s figures reading: 2-0-5-5. He made it worse for Delhi as in his third over he dismissed debutant Lakshya Thareja (1) to leave Delhi tottering at 10 for 7.

“I had no clue about the record. I thought there must be one or two bowlers who had achieved this feat in history. It feels special, and humbling to be honest,” he said.

The previous quickest Ranji hat-trick, a split one, is in the name of Karnataka’s Vinay Kumar who achieved the feat over two overs — first and third.

“All those three balls were special. I was planning those dismissals in my mind and I panned it out exactly the way I wanted it,” he added.

However, his favourite dismissal was when he returned in his second spell to break the enterprising 80-run stand for the ninth wicket between Hrithik Shokeen (68 not out) and Shivank Vashisth (38).

“The wicket of Shivank was special. I took the gully to the fourth slip and it went exactly there that was a lot more satisfying,” he said.

Unadkat’s childhood memory of his hometown Porbandar is a fence. In particular, the gaps in it through which he would watch kids play cricket at the famous Duleep Cricket School in Porbandar. Developed by the British, the site hosts the oldest cricket academy in India. Jamnagar, which threw up Ranjitsinhji, and Rajkot are viewed as cricket centres in Saurashtra but Porbander has had its historic trysts with cricket.

“I would see those kids play and couldn’t wait for four years to pass.” One could only join the school at 12 years of age. “It was the single biggest dream I ever had and I am so proud of the fact that I grew up and achieved what little I have done. To come from Porbandar and to captain my state Ranji team and play for India – it’s a journey that I am proud of,” he had once told this newspaper.

If Unadkat was having a gala time, his counterpart Yash Dhull has had a nightmarish start to his stint as Ranji Trophy captain. Delhi have lost one, conceded first innings lead in the next two games and were reeling at 10 for 7 at one stage in this match.

Dear red ball.. 😇❤️#RanjiTrophy pic.twitter.com/SkQyfeUQCn

— Jaydev Unadkat (@JUnadkat) January 3, 2023

In reply, Saurashtra have already taken the lead and are cruising at 184 for 1 with Harvik Desai (104 not out) scoring his fourth first-class century. Saurashtra is leading by 51 runs.

Speaking on the pitch, Unadkat said he wanted a surface to assist their spinners and he too wanted to bat first.

“Honestly, we wanted some assistance for the spinners as they did well here in the last game. We have played three spinners, and they have played three as well. Chetan (Sarkariya) missed out, just for the fact that it could be a turning track and it won’t have a lot of assistance for the seamers. I also wanted to bat first on this track,” he said.

Saurashtra without their two senior players Cheteshwar Pujara and Jaydev Unadkat have done reasonably well. After taking first-innings lead in the first two games against Assam and Maharashtra, they have stunned Mumbai by 48 runs in their last encounter.

Unadkat tipped his side as a “domestic powerhouse.” He said: Saurashtra is a powerhouse now. There are players who can win us games from any situation. Mental belief in this unit is so strong that the boys never let their shoulders down in any circumstances.”

Brief Scores: Delhi 133 in 35 overs (Hrithik Shokeen 68 not out, Shivank Vashisht 38; Jaydev Unadkat 8/39) vs Saurashstra 184 for 1 in 46 overs (Harvik Desai 104 not out, Chirag Jani 44 not out)