Indian leg spinner Piyush Chawla, who debuted for his country at the age of seventeen, talked candidly about his first-ever Test match against Kevin Pietersen in 2006 and recalled his cordial greeting.
at the second Test of the three-match series against England at Mohali in 2006, Chawla made his debut. After Sachin Tendulkar, Chawla became the second-youngest player to make an Indian Test debut.
With his strong performances in local cricket, the 35-year-old gained a reputation for himself before making the jump to international cricket. But the youthful leg-spinner soon found out how big the step was from domestic to international cricket.
He was up against Pietersen, who was renowned for his aggressive batting style, after bowling a maiden in his opening over. In his second over, Pietersen did not hold back, hitting Chawla for a boundary and a six.
Pietersen’s dominance over the young spinner, who finished his maiden innings with dismal numbers of 0/45 from 9 overs, didn’t end there. Chawla mentioned Pietersen’s post-match remarks, which had a profound effect on him.
“Pietersen whacked me to different places of the ground in my maiden Test match. He declared, “I bat this way, whether it’s Shane Warne or a 17-year-old kid.” It was similar to being welcomed to the world of international cricket. In domestic cricket, I came close to taking five wickets in virtually every other match. Chawla stated on the 2 Sloggers podcast, “It seemed like everything was extremely easy, but when I played my first Test, I realised why international cricket is so difficult.
Elders supported me: Piyush Chawla
Chawla recovered from a difficult opening over to secure the vital wicket of Andrew Flintoff in the second innings, culminating with much better figures of 1/8.
India took a 1-0 lead in the series after winning by nine wickets. In addition, Chawla acknowledged that the assistance he had from veteran players like MS Dhoni, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, and Sachin Tendulkar helped him get past the early setback.
“How everyone supported me. Receiving encouragement from seniors is crucial for a young person who has recently entered the side. Sachin Paaji arrived. In his own unique style, Viru bhai (Virender Sehwag) spoke with me. Next, Mahi bhai (Dhoni) and Yuvi paaji (Yuvraj). Since they were quite senior, I can’t claim that they were pals,” Chawla continued.
Also Read: ‘Rohit and Shubman are a very good combination’ – Dinesh Karthik keeps Yashasvi Jaiswal as Champions Trophy opener
The Indian player, who was born in Uttar Pradesh, has played in three Tests, twenty-five ODIs, and seven T20Is. He was a member of the victorious squads for the 2007 T20 World Cup and the 2011 ODI World Cup, with wicket totals of 7, 32, and 4 respectively.
India
