Indian leg spinner, Piyush Chawla, who made international at a tender age of 17, opened up about facing Kevin Pietersen during his debut Test match in 2006 and also recalled his welcoming statement.
Mumbai Indians star Piyush Chawla, who made his international debut at just the age of 17, has recently opened up about facing England star batter Kevin Pietersen during his debut Test match back in 2006 and also recalled his welcoming remark, which really shattered him and made him understand the importance of the international matches as compared to the domestic ones.
The leg-spinner made his debut in the second Test of the three matches of the Test series between India and England at Mohali back in 2006. The 35-year-old cricketer was the second-youngest cricketer after Sachin Tendulkar, who made his debut at such a young age. Chawla, who had a stellar domestic season throughout his cricketing career, made his way into international cricket with a lot of confidence and high expectations. However, the young cricketer quickly realised that the jump from domestic games to international circuits was not that easy and what international matches meant for the cricketer.
After bowling his maiden over in his first over of the game, the star bowler faced Kevin Pietersen, who is known for his great batting display. Notably, the England star batter showed no mercy and went on to hammer for one four and one six in his second over of the debut game. His devastating batting didn’t stop there, as the star batter continued to hammer Chawla, who won his first inning with poor figures of 0/45 from 9 overs. However, the 35-year-old cricketer has recalled how Kevin welcomed him to international cricket, which made him understand why international cricket is so difficult to play.
“In my first Test match, Pietersen hit me to different parts of the ground. And stated that: ‘Whether it is Shane Warne or a 17-year-old kid, I bat this way’. That experience was like ‘welcome to international cricket’. I almost had a five-wicket haul in every second match in domestic cricket. It appeared like things were very easy, but when I played my first Test, I realized why international cricket is so difficult,” said Chawla on the 2 Sloggers podcast.
Meanwhile, Chawla also recalled how he had received support from legendary cricketers like Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, and MS Dhoni, who had helped him overcome this setback.
“The way everyone backed me. It’s very important for a youngster who has just walked into the side to get support from the seniors. Sachin paaji came. Viru bhai (Virender Sehwag) talked to me in his own way. Then Yuvi paaji (Yuvraj) and Mahi bhai (Dhoni). I can’t say they were friends because they were very seniors,” added Chawla.
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