Parvez Rasool hopes to make India A tour of Australia count

Parvez Rasool

Jammu and Kashmir off-spinning all-rounder Parvez Rasool, who made his debut in the recently concluded One Day International series against Bangladesh, said that he wants to make the India A tour of Australia count to improve his chances of becoming a permanent member of the senior side.

Following the 2 four-day games against Australia A next month, India A will be competing in a quadrangular one-day tournament, with South Africa A and Cricket Australia's National Performance Squad joining in as the other two teams. While the 25-year-old hasn’t made it to the 4-day squad, he is one of the three spinners to make the cut for the limited-overs fixtures, with the other two being Akshar Patel and Karn Sharma.

Rasool, who picked up 2 wickets on his international debut, said: "The Australia tour is very important for me . I am going to Australia with the A team and I hope to perform well and get a place in the Indian team very soon. Whenever I get a chance to play, I will put in my best and try to perform very well to represent the country in many tournaments.”

On how he felt while getting his first national cap, Rasool said: ""When I played for my state in the Ranji [Trophy], it was a good feeling but when I got an ODI cap, the feeling was overwhelming. I felt really great to play an international match."

He added: “I got huge support from my captain and coach. They had some very encouraging words for me after my performance and it felt very good.”

Despite contributing to the team’s victory in the first ODI, he was dropped in favour of pace bowling all-rounder Stuart Binny for the next two games. Rasool, though, saw that as a logical switch: “To include a cricketer in the playing eleven is the team management's decision. The wickets in Bangladesh were suited more for the medium-pacers than the spinners."