Little-known off-spinner Ajit Chandila, who became an overnight star by picking the first hat-trick of Indian Premier League-V, attributed his success to the pep talk he got from former India spinner Narendra Hirwani, now a national selector.
Chandila took 4-13, including a hat-trick in Rajasthan Royals’ 45-run win over Pune Warriors here yesterday.u00a0It was only his second game of the long tournament and he got to know about his selection in the playing eleven just before the start of the match.
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“Rahulbhai (Dravid) told me in the morning that I was in. I was waiting for a chance from a long time and luckily I got it today. I immediately called up Narendra Hirwani and his words gave me a lot of confidence. The support of Rahulbhai has also been great,” said Chandila, who has played only two first-class matches and 13 T20s for Haryana.
Chandila dismissed Jesse Ryder, Warriors skipper Sourav Ganguly, Robin Uthappa and Anustup Majumdar. Asked whether his performance will make way bigger things in his career, the 28-year-old said: It is only the beginning. There is a long way to go.”
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