Left-arm pace bowler Arzan Nagwaswalla was “speechless” before his eyes were filled with tears on Friday when he received news of his selection as a standby to Indian squad for the England tour.
“I called up mom and dad the first thing after I came to senses. I was so excited,” Nagwaswalla said from Nargol on Saturday.
The 23-year-old player was returning from Delhi where he was a net bowler with the Mumbai Indians, after the Indian Premier League was postponed due to the raging Covid-19 pandemic.
“I did not expect the call. Everyone has confidence that I would get through one day or the other. I also had that confidence. (But) this was very unexpected and surprising,” said Nagwaswalla.
Nagwaswalla thinks of himself being a left-armer was an advantage that helped him make cut. “Maybe because I am a left-arm fast bowler (I was picked). I am young. That is the only thing. Also, my last season went well,” he said.
The pace bowler, who represents Gujarat in Ranji Trophy, has picked 62 wickets in 16 first-class matches. He took 41 wickets in eight matches in the 2019-20 Ranji Trophy season.
Former Gujarat coach Vijay Patel calls him a “swing bowler and someone who has come through age-group cricket”.
“Yes, I am a swing bowler. My speed is 130-135, but I try to swing the ball,” Nagwaswalla explained.
While India’s first-choice left-arm pacer T Natarajan, who played the fourth Test against Australia in Brisbane, is injured, Nagwaswalla could be in line to follow the path of the Tamil Nadu pacer.
Natarajan went as an uncapped player to Australia but made debut in all three formats and also impressed.
India play the World Test Championship final in June and then five Test matches against England in August-September. An injury to a bowler could provide Nagwaswalla with an opportunity.
Nagwaswalla calls the stint at MI nets fruitful.
“It was a great experience. I got an opportunity to bowl to some good batsmen. I spoke to Zaheer sir. If I would have remained at home, nothing would have happened because of the lockdown. So, it was great that I could practice and kept doing training,” he added.
It was a dream come true to be with former India pacer Zaheer, MI director of cricket operations, since he had followed him while growing up and was inspired by him.
“He didn’t do much on the bowling aspect. He said it is fine, just that if you train well, you will see more benefit in your bowling. He asked me to train well. He told me certain technical things,” said Nagwaswalla.
“I was left-handed. That was my advantage. We didn’t have too many left-armers in our district or even state level. I used to watch Zaheer and I got interested in bowling fast,” he said.
The pacer could become the first cricketer in India’s main squad from the Parsi community after 46 years since Farokh Engineer played in 1975.