Parveez Rasool was modest yet honest in his admission that he did expect a national call-up after his seven-wicket haul against the mighty Australians earlier this year. ‘I am very happy that my name has been included in the Indian team. I did a lot of hard work this season, performed well in the domestic cricket where I took 33 wickets and scored 594 runs. I also did well against
Australia, so I was expecting a call up for the Zimbabwe tour,’ an ecstatic Rasool told
reporters here.
‘I was expecting the selectors to give rest to (Ravichandran) Ashwin for this tour. I would like to thank almighty Allah...without his help this all was impossible for me,’ he added.
The 24-year-old Rasool, who has been in contention for national selection for a while now after a string of impressive performances, got the nod in the squad after the national selectors preferred to go in with a young team for the series, to be held from July 24 to August 3 at Harare and Bulawayo.
Rasool said it’s just a beginning for him and he has a long way to go. ‘As a player, we all want to succeed at the highest level. My job is to play cricket and give my best. Allah has bestowed his love and respect on the whole valley. After proving the faith of all the cricket fans from the state, I hope I can do the same for the entire nation,’ he said. Rasool, who returned impressive figures of 7/45 against the Aussies in February, thanked his supporters.