Cricket: Forget Symonds and Hussey, India's Chawla Is the Man That England Need

If you were asked to name a cricketer you’d like to see in the England Test team, I’m sure a few perpetual contenders would crop up. Hussey’s strokeplay, Symonds’ power, Lee’s pace or Murali’s sheer wicket taking ability would all be greatly desired by England fans. But I am here to tell you why there is one that I would envy above all others – the young Indian Piyush Chawla.

There is a definite lack of quality leg spinners in the world at the moment, and one less in international cricket now that Warne has left the game. With the exception of Panesar and perhaps Swann, it seems that a dearth of spinners in the English national side has continued.

The state of the other aspects of the squad, namely batsmen, pacemen, all-rounders and wicket-keepers, seems to be in relatively good health. Alaistair Cook appears to have cemented his place as opener, with middle-order specialists Bell and Collingwood providing the meat of the batting lineup. The places for fast bowlers has enjoyed strong competition in recent times, with Broad and Anderson ousting Hoggard and Harmison over the winter Tests with New Zealand. However, only Panesar is the only firmly established spinner, with competition at times woefully inadequate.

The new provisional Test squad has been announced, with places given to promising young leg spinner Adil Rashid, alongside the now seasoned campaigner Panesar. The fluctuating Swann and James Tredwell make up the remaining spots for spin bowlers in the 26 man squad. The official statement is that the provisional selection of the untested bowlers “is designed to help prepare them for possible elevation to the national side”.

No such mollycoddling is required for young Indian talent Piyush Chawla. Having taken 4 wickets in 8 overs, conceding only 8 runs, in the Under-19 World Cup final of 2006, he also bamboozled old pro Sachin Tendulkar with a googly in a Challenger Trophy match the same year. Making his Test debut against England in 2007, he has been pushing for a permanent spot in India’s line-up ever since.

However, what has been most striking about the youthful bowler has been his performances so far in the heady world of the Indian Premier League. Combining a huge variety of balls and continually changing flight, he has produced statistics against the world’s leading batsmen that any bowler would be proud of. His return of 4-0-16-2 against the Mumbai Indians was perhaps his best so far, with his straight ball bowling of Dwayne Bravo a particular highlight.

Although these Twenty20 results cannot correlate to full International matches, the talent he has shown is undisputable.

Crucially, he is still only 19 years old and is bound to improve with time. If he manages to combine consistency with his large variety, he could prove to be one of the next generation of great legspin bowlers. We can only hope that Rashid continues to improve and show the quality that his potential suggests, giving England a spinner comparable to Chawla.