Arzan Nagwaswalla L and Virat Kohli. Picture Credit: BCCI TV/Getty Images
With a population of around 1.3 billion and counting, India never falls short of high quality cricket players. The majority of the population plays the game and dreams of representing the country at the international level. Cricket is the so called 'religion' in India and none of the other sports have ever challenged its popularity in the nation.
Keeping these things in mind, it becomes quite understandable that to make it to the side's playing XI or even to the squad is an uphill task. Such is the competition that many quality players end up warming the benches and the likes of Prithvi Shaw and Kuldeep Yadav — who have been left out of India's squad for the World Test Championship final against New Zealand and the following England Test series — are a telling example of that.
Despite the competition being so tough, players never fail to dream of donning the Indian national jersey in cricket. With the same dream a new highly talented lad Arzan Nagwaswalla from Surat has entered the arena. The left-arm pacer from Gujarat is very close to living his dream as he has been picked as a reserve bowler in the squad for WTC final and England tour.
However, soon after his selection, Arzan revealed that the team up with the squad will provide him an opportunity to meet India skipper Virat Kohli with whom he has never met so far. He made the revelation while he shared his experience of the Mumbai Indians' camp as he had joined them as net bowler for IPL 2021 which now stands postponed.
"It was exciting to interact with Rohit Sharma and Zaheer Khan (who's my idol), during my stint with MI, but I have never met Virat Kohli," Nagwaswalla told Times of India in an interview.
I'm surprised and overwhelmed with my selection: Arzan Nagwaswalla
The fast bowler represents Gujarat in domestic competition and has worked as a net bowler for Mumbai Indians for five years. In 16 first-class matches, Arzan has taken 62 wickets with the best bowling figures in a game of 10 for 114. He is confident that the conditions in England will favour his bowling style and is keen to make an impression in the United Kingdom. England is well-known for its grassy pitches that are ideal for pacers.
"I'm surprised and overwhelmed with my selection. The conditions in England are ideal for a bowler like me. I'm pretty excited to go there," stated Arzan in the same interview.