Valley lad delivers doosra to Australia
13 Feb 2013 12:56 AM GMT
Finally, after years of conflict, 1989 will no longer be remembered by the people of the valley as only the year marking the beginning of insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir.
Though it’s pure coincidence that Parvez Rassol Zarghav was born on Wednesday, the same Valentine’s Day eve of 1989, at Bijbehara area in Anant Nag district, the 24-year-old all rounder, who captured 7/45 to rip apart Australia in the opening tour match in Chennai, successfully completed a full circle after being detained by Bangalore police for questioning in connection with suspected presence of explosives at Chinnaswamy Stadium in 2009. He was given a clean chit a few days later though.
Just a month after becoming one of the few cricketers from the valley to find a place in a major India team when he got picked to play for the ‘A’ team against England in a one-day game, young Rassol announced his arrival at the big stage by wreaking havoc in his three spells to help Board President’s XI shoot out the tourists for a paltry 241 in 88.3 overs on the opening day of the two-day match in Chennai.
Spin has always been a familiar weakness of Australian batsmen, especially in sub-continent conditions, and off-spinner Rasool’s show will surely provide the selectors with an option if both Ravichandran Ashwin and Harbhajan Singh fail to impress.
Rassol has been rewarded for a strong all-round show in J&K’s disappointing run in this year’s Ranji Trophy where finished on top of both batting and bowling charts for his team with 594 runs (two centuries) and 33 wickets.
Rassol looked particularly impressive in the way he dismissed top-order players like regular Test opener Ed Cowan, stand-in captain and wicketkeeper Matthew Wade and all-rounder Steve Smith.
Openers Ed Cowan (58) and Usman Khawaja (32) provided a good start before wickets started to fall in a heap which cut short Australia’s batting practice. Rassol picked seven wickets for 45 runs in 28.3 overs while medium pacers Shami Ahmed and Parwinder Awana went wicketless while leggie Sarabjit Ladda bagged a couple.
Though it’s pure coincidence that Parvez Rassol Zarghav was born on Wednesday, the same Valentine’s Day eve of 1989, at Bijbehara area in Anant Nag district, the 24-year-old all rounder, who captured 7/45 to rip apart Australia in the opening tour match in Chennai, successfully completed a full circle after being detained by Bangalore police for questioning in connection with suspected presence of explosives at Chinnaswamy Stadium in 2009. He was given a clean chit a few days later though.
Just a month after becoming one of the few cricketers from the valley to find a place in a major India team when he got picked to play for the ‘A’ team against England in a one-day game, young Rassol announced his arrival at the big stage by wreaking havoc in his three spells to help Board President’s XI shoot out the tourists for a paltry 241 in 88.3 overs on the opening day of the two-day match in Chennai.
Spin has always been a familiar weakness of Australian batsmen, especially in sub-continent conditions, and off-spinner Rasool’s show will surely provide the selectors with an option if both Ravichandran Ashwin and Harbhajan Singh fail to impress.
Rassol has been rewarded for a strong all-round show in J&K’s disappointing run in this year’s Ranji Trophy where finished on top of both batting and bowling charts for his team with 594 runs (two centuries) and 33 wickets.
Rassol looked particularly impressive in the way he dismissed top-order players like regular Test opener Ed Cowan, stand-in captain and wicketkeeper Matthew Wade and all-rounder Steve Smith.
Openers Ed Cowan (58) and Usman Khawaja (32) provided a good start before wickets started to fall in a heap which cut short Australia’s batting practice. Rassol picked seven wickets for 45 runs in 28.3 overs while medium pacers Shami Ahmed and Parwinder Awana went wicketless while leggie Sarabjit Ladda bagged a couple.
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