Monday, December 5, 2022

Not thinking about IPL or Team India, focussed on producing consistent performances: Saurashtra's Chirag Jani

Saurashtra captain Jaydev Unadkat, after winning the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2022 said, “If there is one player in the side who deserves to play at the highest level, it’s Chirag Jani”. The skipper was certainly on point with his judgement after the kind of performance that Jani had unleashed in the final against Maharashtra.

The all-rounder took a couple of catches, effected a runout, scalped a hat-trick and then chipped in with important and unbeaten 30 runs off 25 balls to anchor the side home.

In an exclusive chat with Firstpost, Jani talked about his hat-trick, the brilliant knock from Sheldon Jackson who notched up a ton in the final and guided the side to a five-wicket victory and “positive captain” Unadkat.

First off all, many congratulations on the win, how are you feeling?

I’m very, very happy. It’s a great feeling. The team composition has been very good and everyone has been working very hard and that has paid off.

You were on a roll in the final and unveiled an all-round show not just with bat and ball but also while fielding. Tell us about that.

Toss played a major role. We had created pressure with the ball in the early stage of the innings and managed to keep them down to 248/9. But a lot of credit goes to Ruturaj Gaikwad as he held the fort at one end and scored a brilliant hundred.

Talking about my hat-trick, there was some reverse swing on offer and moreover, yorker is my stock ball. So, I just tried to bowl as many yorkers as I could and was able to execute my plan really well. I bowled three yorkers on the trot and bagged the hat-trick. I’m really happy to achieve the feat, considering it was a final of a major tournament.

Coming to my batting, when I walked in the middle, we were under some pressure after there was a collapse in between. But Sheldon Jackson is a big match player and he put in all his experience when it was most needed.

I just had one thing in mind, I have to stay at the crease and not lose any wickets. In fact, this was the conversation that I had with Sheldon (Jackson) also and we were eventually able to do that successfully.

Talk to us about “captain” Jaydev Unadkat.

Jaydev Unadkat is a very positive captain. He works on the strength of a player. Even if something goes wrong, he backs the players. Personally, also, he puts in a lot of hard work on his game as well and is always trying to improve.

You played a crucial role in your team’s win against Tamil Nadu in the quarter-final match as well where you scored a brisk half-century and also picked up three wickets. How do you deal with big match pressure?

It’s all about experience and you have to execute your plans well, especially in a tricky situation. I just try to keep myself calm and composed during pressure situations and play accordingly. It’s about playing on merit, backing your strengths and not trying to do something different.

IPL 2023 auctions are coming up and you have put up a brilliant show in the final. Share your thoughts on that.

Every player wants to play at India and IPL level but it’s all about timing and luck. The important thing is, we should keep the process going on and try to take the opportunities that come. I’m not thinking about that and concentrating on being consistent with my performances.

How are you preparing for the Ranji Trophy?

Our aim is to stay fit, perform well, back ourselves and train well. Apart from this, we will have to make a shift from white-ball to red-ball cricket. We have a couple of days’ break and then we will get back on with our preparations. We have a camp in Rajkot. We just want to get back into the groove as quickly as possible.

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