Jafer has a long run-up and bowls with a flatter trajectory, and his googly turns well.
England’s squad for the West Indies tour has a fresh name – Jafer Chohan, the leg-spinner from Yorkshire. The 22-year-old is the first player to get a national call-up from the South Asian Cricket Academy (SACA), founded in 2021 by Dr Tom Brown with former England bowler Kabir Ali to help British South Asian players get recognised.
When Middlesex released him in 2021, Jafer was featuring for Berkshire, and his coach, Tom Lambert, recommended him to Tom Brown, who studied low numbers of South Asian cricketers in professional cricket. Then, Jafer started playing for SACA and soon made a significant rise.
He joined Yorkshire in 2022 and slowly became a permanent member of the T20 side. He bowled brilliantly in the Vitality Blast 2024, taking 17 wickets at an average of 15.52, including a five-wicket haul against Durham.
He recently signed a three-year contract with Yorkshire, becoming one of the ten players SACA has helped find a professional contract with a County and will remain with them till 2027 summer. He was also roped in by Guyana Amazon Warriors in the Caribbean Premier League, but Yorkshire didn’t allow him to play because he was in line to make his First Class debut.
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Jafer was with Southern Brave in The Hundred but didn’t get any opportunity to feature, even after a fine Vitality Blast, and Sydney Sixers has also drafted him for the Big Bash League 2024/25. He dismissed Joe Root and Ben Duckett in the nets at Loughborough before England’s Pakistan tour, and Root recommended him to the Yorkshire club.
Adil Rashid, England’s main leg-spinner, has been working with him extensively at Yorkshire and his own cricket centre in Bradford. He revealed his brother, Amar, also worked with Jafer at his cricket centre.
“It’s (Adil Rashid Academy) for people who don’t get recognised, but you see the talent is there. Jafer has worked with my brother and with me, and he has broken through. It was a big moment for the academy and for the centre, to know that people have come through and made it,” stated Rashid.
Jafer has a long run-up and bowls with a flatter trajectory, and his googly turns well. Further, he also has a good slider, and his arm speed is quick, which helps him to remain unpredictable and difficult to read.
Jafer is confident of his skillsets and feels “he is different from what England have had before”.
“It feels like an absolute dream to be selected. It’s what I’ve worked for my whole life. My skillset is a very unique one and a bit different to what England have had before. I feel very confident in my game and I like to express myself as a person with how I bowl, and I think that works to my strength. Being in this new environment will be a really good opportunity to thrive.”
He has yet to make his debut in any other format barring T20s. But England have lately focused on selecting players with unique attributes like giving chances to Tom Hartley and Shoaib Bashir on the India tour.
Jafer’s selection is based on his unique skillsets, and the team sees him as one of the potential future leg-spinners with Rehan Ahmed. Despite having only 23 T20s to his name, his selection shows he holds something special and can be the successor to Adil Rashid.
England limited-overs squad for West Indies tour: Jos Buttler (capt), Jofra Archer, Jacob Bethell, Jafer Chohan, Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Liam Livingstone, Saqib Mahmood, Dan Mousley, Jamie Overton, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Reece Topley, John Turner
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