It' was anything but an auspicious start. Every cricketer aspires to play Test cricket to prove his mettle and Piyush Chawla was no different. But five days later his dream almost turned into a nightmare, like the one on Elm Street (pun intended).
Drafted into the Indian team to play England in the second Test at Mohali in March 2006, Piyush, then 17, witnessed his ecstasy turn to agony soon enough as he went wicketless and was hit @ five runs per over in the first essay.
The second, was marginally better and he did manage to scalp Andrew Flintoff, who was the England captain at that time, for his first Test wicket.
More importantly, he was completely over-shadowed by Anil Kumble in that match, the latter putting up a match-winning effort. The below-average effort meant that he was dropped immediately.
There were no signs of a recall and his hopes of playing in another Test were increasingly getting consigned in a dark tunnel. Subsequently, his performances in the other forms suffered and an element of inconsistency seemed to creep in to his game. However, to his credit he did come up with a few decent efforts, which, although not substantial, were enough to keep him in the scheme of things.
Two years later, another opportunity knocked at his doors when he became a member of the Test squad for the home series against South Africa. A place in the playing eleven was still a far-fetched idea and it was no surprise that he wasn't picked for either of the opening two Tests.
But as the third Test approached speculation was rife that Piyush would make the final eleven considering the nature of the wicket at Green Park, as also the fact that the captain (Kumble) himself was a doubtful starter.
No wonder it came as a surprise for Piyush when he replaced Kumble in the team, and what's more, on his home ground.
"I was told this just 45 minutes before the match," confessed Piyush. "It was great to be playing in your second Test after a long time."
But this time he didn't want to miss out, and grabbed the opportunity provided with both hands. In his first over of the match, he used his guile to fox an already settled Neil McKenzie, enticing him out of his comfort zone, and stand-in skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni did the rest.
There was an encore in the day's final session, when he snared AB de Villiers in his first over after coming on to replace Sreesanth. The 19-year-old finished with figures of 2 for 66, capping an excellent comeback.
"I just wanted to bowl in good areas as I knew that it was just my second Test and they would want to dominate me," he said, quite content at containing the South Africans. But the numbers of wickets was something that left him a tad discontented.
"Human wants are unsatisfied. I hoped to get a few more wickets butÂ…," his voice fading off.
With the second innings still to be played, Piyush is optimistic though.
"The wicket is a slow turner and our batsmen handle spin well. It all now depends on how we bat. I just hope we can make a big total," he said. "Then we can go for the kill."
India won his debut Test and Chawla is no doubt be keen for an encore!
