Parveez Rasool has become the first cricketer from J&K to be picked for a senior India squad. The 24-year-old all-rounder is among the 15 named to tour Zimbabwe beginning July 24.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s every cricketer\u2019s dream to play for India and my dream has come true,\u201d Rasool told Hindustan Times<\/strong> in Srinagar.<\/p>\n \u201cI had a good domestic season. I got 33 wickets and scored 594 runs in seven matches. Besides I got seven wickets for India A in a match against Australia,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Rasool is the fourth cricketer from J&K after Abid Nabi, Surendra Singh and Abdul Qayoom to be picked for a national squad. The other three, however, couldn\u2019t make it to the senior team.<\/p>\n According to a report in The Times Of India,<\/strong> in 2009, he was detained and questioned by the Bangalore police for alleged links to a terror plot outside the Chinnaswamy Stadium. But in the end, Parvez Rasool’s talent and resolve proved to be stronger than any hurdle that circumstance could throw his way.<\/p>\n On Friday, the 24-year-old son of a humble shopkeeper became the first cricketer from the strife-torn state to be selected for the Indian cricket team. “I wanted to prove I am a cricketer, not a terrorist,” he told TOI on phone after being named for the Zimbabwe tour later this month.<\/p>\n Spin legend Bishan Singh Bedi, a mentor to the J&K cricket team, put Rasool’s achievement in perspective. “The cricketers there have nothing to look forward to. There is hardly any facility and no local tournaments. To have come such a long way is phenomenal,” Bedi told TOI.<\/p>\n On Friday afternoon, Parvez Rasool was playing cricket with his friends at a local school playground when he received news that he had become the first cricketer from Kashmir to be<\/strong> selected to play for India, says a report in Indian Express.<\/p>\n Within minutes, news of Rasool’s selection for the ODI tour of Zimbabwe spread through Bijbehara town and neighbouring villages in south Kashmir. People thronged the playground where Rasool was playing.<\/p>\n Rasool thanked his mentor Abdul Qayoom Bugoo, who broke the news to him, and Jammu and Kashmir Ranji Trophy coach Bishen Singh Bedi for helping him become a better cricketer. “Apart from these two coaches, I am also thankful to my parents who always encouraged me to play cricket,” he said.<\/p>\n Rasool, an off-spinning all-rounder, has enjoyed a splendid domestic season, scoring 594 runs at an average of 54.00 and taking 33 wickets at 18.09. Playing for the Board President’s XI in Chennai, he had a seven-wicket haul against the Australians.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Parveez Rasool has become the first cricketer from J&K to be picked for a senior India squad. The 24-year-old all-rounder is among the 15 named to tour Zimbabwe beginning July 24. \u201cIt\u2019s every cricketer\u2019s dream to play for India and my dream has come true,\u201d Rasool told Hindustan Times in Srinagar. \u201cI had a good […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[9603,9601,1187,8467,9602],"class_list":["post-15724","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-from-the-newspapers","tag-abdul-qayoom","tag-abid-nabi","tag-bishan-singh-bedi","tag-parveez-rasool","tag-surendra-singh"],"yoast_head":"\n