Pacer Jaydev Unadkat's etched his name in the record books for an unenviable piece of statistic on Thursday, as he returned to Test cricket after 12 years -- missing 118 games during that period.
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 most by an Indian and second highest in world cricket.
Only England's Gareth Batty (142) has missed more matches than Unadkat in the history of Test cricket.
Unadkat, who made his debut in 2010, is playing only the second match of his career as he was included for the second Test against Bangladesh in Dhaka, starting on Thursday.
He replaced wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav, who was benched despite picking up match-winning figures of 8/113 in India's 188-run win in the opening Test in Chattogram.
The left-arm pacer made it a memorable comeback as he picked his maiden Test wicket, when produced a superb delivery to get the wicket of Bangladesh Zakir Hasan on Day 1 of the second Test.
The dismissal ended his long 12-year wait for a Test wicket he had gone wicketless in his debut match against South Africa, in which India were thrashed by an innings and 25 runs.
He finished with 2/50, while Umesh Yadav and Ravichandran Ashwin picked up four wickets each as Bangladesh were bowled out for a below-par 227 in their first innings.
