Piyush eyes English batters weakness against leggies

Lucknoww, Feb 23 (UNI) On cloud nine following his selection to Team India line up for home series against England, the promising leggie from Moradabad, Piyush Chawla today said he would justify his selector faith in him by exploiting the inherent weakness of English batsmen against leg spinners.

With the BCCI Selection Committee including Mohd Kaif, medium pacer R P Singh, allrounder Suresh Raina, besides Chawla in the 15-member squad, it will be for the first time in the history of Indian cricket that four players from Uttar Pradesh will feature in senior national side.

Talkingg over phone to UNI, the 17-year-old leggie who was the vice-captain of the India U-19 side that lost the final of the World Cup against Pakistan in Sri Lanka, said it was a great honour to become part of the senior India XI.

''It is an honour to even share dressing room space with global stars like Tendulkar, Dravid and Pathan under the guidance of seasoned coach Greg Chappell,'' he maintained.

Interestingly it was Chappell only who spotted the talented leggie during the last Challenger Series when the diminutive spinner foxed and claimed the scalps of master blaster Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh and V V S Laxman.

The talented leggie, who also exhibited his handy batting prowess with an unbeaten 25 against the U-19 Pak side in Sri Lanka, however, regretted that he was being compared with a great bowler of the stature of Anil Kumble. ''He is great bowler, while I am still a greenhorn and making such comparisons is improper,'' asserted Chawla, presently mastering the art of back-spinners.

When asked about his armoury in the series against the Englishmen, he said he had no specific strategies and nor had he made any of the English willow-wielders his target.

''With England still riding on the Ashes success and having batsmen like Vaughan, Trescothick, Strauss, Flintoff in their ranks, it is going to be an extremely difficult series, but I will try by best to live up to the expectations of the selectors,'' he added.

Chawla was also part of the Ranji winning UP side and bagged a crucial five wicket haul against Bengal in the first innings which played a key role in the northern state winning their maiden title on the basis of first innings lead.

Chawla is among the rare breed of right arm googlie bowlers -- an art slowly becoming extinct on the global cricket arena. Edited4.

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