Left-arm pacer Arzan Nagwaswalla was roped in by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) as a stand-by player for India’s ICC World Test Championship final squad on Friday. Following his selection by the apex cricket board in India, Arzan turned out to be one of the lesser-known names in the list of standby players. Besides Arzan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Prasidh Krishna, and Avesh Khan were other prominent names called up to feature in the stand-by list of players. 

As Nagwaswalla is set to enjoy his maiden stint at the Indian national camp for the ICC World Test Championship final, followed by the high-profile Test series against England, the Gujarat pacer shared his excitement about becoming the stand-by player for Virat Kohli-led Team India. Interestingly, Nagwaswalla was also a net bowler at the Mumbai Indians (MI) camp during the recently suspended Indian Premier League (IPL) season 2021. 

Speaking to TimesofIndia in an interview, the 23-year-old opened up about his upcoming first-ever meeting with Team India captain Kohli. Nagwaswalla recalled his interaction with Rohit Sharma and Zaheer Khan at the MI camp before admitting that he has never met India skipper Kohli. 

“It was exciting to interact with Rohit Sharma and Zaheer Khan, who’s my idol, during my stint with MI, but I have never met Virat Kohli. I’m surprised and overwhelmed with my selection. The conditions in England are ideal for a bowler like me. I’m pretty excited to go there,” Arzan was quoted as saying. 

Arzan also said that it was Team India’s 2011 World Cup victory that inspired him to take up cricket as a career. Born in Gujarat on October 17, 1997, the youngster made his Ranji Trophy debut against Baroda at Vadodara during the 2017-18 season. The 23-year-old bagged 9 wickets while making 5 appearances in the previous edition of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy