'Dear red ball...': Jaydev Unadkat's old heartwarming tweet goes viral after left-arm pacer returns to Test cricket

Pacer Jaydev Unadkat returned to international Test cricket after almost 12 years following his inclusion in the India playing XI for the second game against Bangaldesh on Thursday.

Unadkat, who made his debut in 2010, is playing only the second Test of his career in the ongoing match against Bangladesh.

He replaced wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav, who returned with match-winning figures of 8/113 in India's 188-run win in the opening game in Chattogram.

Unadkat made his Test debut against South Africa at Centurion on December 16, 2020, 12 years and two days ago. In between, he missed 118 Test matches, the highest by an Indian and second highest in world cricket.

Now, Unadkat's old social media post has gone viral. The tweet dated January 4, 2022 read: "Dear red ball, please give me one more chance.. I’ll make you proud, promise!"

Earlier, stand-in India captain KL Rahul, during the toss, revealed that Unadkat has replaced left-arm wrist-spinner, Kuldeep Yadav, in the playing eleven.

"Hard decision on Kuldeep but we know Ashwin and Axar can find spin, and bring Jaydev in to cover all bases. Unfortunate decision for us to leave him (Kuldeep) out but it's an opportunity for Unadkat."

Interestingly, Kuldeep was Player of the Match in India's comprehensive 188-run victory at Chattogram, where he made a career-best 40 and had a match haul of eight wickets, including a five-wicket haul in the first innings.