Arzan Nagwaswalla names his bowling idol, shares Jasprit Bumrah's advice to him during IPL

Gujarat's all-rounder Arzan Nagwaswalla recently was named in the Indian squad announced by the BCCI for the upcoming ICC World Test Championship and India Tour of England. The 23-years-old left-arm pacer on the back of his impressive performances in domestic cricket was picked by the BCCI as a standby player to join Team India which will fly to England for the ICC World Test Championship Final and the five-match Test series against England. Now, in a conversation with BCCI TV, Arzan Nagwaswalla named his bowling idol and also an experience with India's top speedster Jasprit Bumrah which helped him in his cricket a lot. 

On being asked about his bowling idol, Arzan Nagwaswalla said, "My bowling idol and inspiration has always been Zaheer Khan mainly because he has also been a left-arm pacer. I have grown up watching him playing for India and doing really well."

The left-arm pacer was Gujarat’s leading wicket-taker (41 wickets at an average of 18.36) during their run to the Ranji Trophy 2019-20 semifinal. Arzan also shared his conversation with Jasprit Bumrah during a training session of Mumbai Indians. "Although we have not played together in domestic cricket because Bumrah has been representing India, whenever we have practiced together (at Mumbai Indians), he has always told me to learn as much as I can from everyone – be it from Zaheer Bhai or Shane Bond or from anyone. From there on, it is up to you to decide what you want to do."

Notably, Gujarat all-rounder Arzan Nagwaswalla has become the first cricketer from the Parsi community to be named in the Indian squad, after a long break of 45 years. The left-arm pacer also talked about his Parsi connect. He said, "I was familiar with this. When I was playing Ranji Trophy, people used to tell me that bahot saalo se koi Parsi cricketer India ke liye khela nahi From past many years no Parsi players have played for India). It is something like giving back to the community. I am very happy."

Who is Arzan Nagwaswaala? 

Born in Nargol, which is a village situated on the border of Maharashtra in the Umbergoan town of Gujarat, Nagwaswaala rose through the ranks of age-group cricket in the state rapidly. Much like a lot of young Indian left-arm fast bowlers, he also idolizes former India pacer, Zaheer Khan. Moreover, his bowling action also is bound to remind one of Khan. The player comes from a Parsi community and he became the first Parsi player to be included in the Indian men's cricket team since Farokh Engineer's last appearance in 1975. 

(Image Credits: Twitter@GCAMOTERA/AP)