New Delhi: Rising Pune Supergiants' journey from near bottom to finalists took some radical changes in approach. From last season, RPS changed 11 players and the lanky left-arm speedster Jaydev Unadkat proved to be their best bet as the Pune franchise is all set to play their first IPL final against Mumbai Indians on Sunday.
Complaining about the lack of support from his previous IPL captains, in 11 matches so far, Unadkat has picked 22 wickets at 13.77, including a five-wicket haul.
"I didn't get the support that I needed from past captains as well in all the IPL teams that I played. So, I knew from the start itself that whatever chance I get, whether at the start of the season or during the later stages, I need to capitalise," he said.
The Saurashtra pacer is the second highest wicket-taker in this edition, just behind Bhuvaneshwar Kumar (Sunrisers Hyderabad), who has 26 wickets from 14 games.
Interestingly, Unadkat did not feature in Pune's first four matches. In the initial stages of the tournamet all the teams try to weigh their strengths and weaknesses through various combinations.
"I was bowling well in the nets from the start. I always had the coach's confidence that I was on the right path. The team was looking at different combinations, so I just kept working hard. Moreover, I have been through such uncertain situations many times in my career, but have always fought my way back into the team," Unadkat added.
This is the second time Unadkat has played 10 matches in one season. The last time he played more than 10 games was in 2013 for Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Skipper Steve Smith has shown immense confidence in the fast bowler and made him bowl the crucial overs for his team in the powerplay and at death.
"My experience of playing with Smith and MS Dhoni has been brilliant. I bowled couple of last overs and I bowled at the death a lot this season. It is very important to have the backing of the captain when you are bowling in such pressure situations. That is one thing I had from Smithy throughout the season. He had this confidence in me that I know how to execute my plans. That itself gives you a lot of confidence going into pressure situations, same thing with Mahi bhai too," Unadkat revealed.
