Parveez Rasool was modest yet honest in his admission that he did expect a national call-up after his seven-wicket haul against the mighty Australians earlier this year.
"I am very happy that my name has been included in the Indian team. I did a lot of hard work this season, performed well in the domestic cricket where I took 33 wickets and scored 594 runs. I also did well against Australia, so I was expecting a call up for the Zimbabwe tour," an ecstatic Rasool told reporters here.
"I was expecting the selectors to give rest to (Ravichandran) Ashwin for this tour. I would like to thank almighty Allah...Without his help this all was impossible for me," he added.
Rasool today created history by becoming the first cricketer from Jammu and Kashmir to be named in the senior Indian team for the Zimbabwe tour.
The 24-year-old Rasool, who has been in contention for national selection for a while now after a string of impressive performances, got the nod in the squad after the national selectors preferred to go in with a young team for the series, to be held from July 24 to August 3 at Harare and Bulawayo.
The decision to rest Ashwin paved the way for Rasool's selection in the senior team since he is also an off-spinner.
The selectors also picked the India 'A' team for the tour of South Africa which also includes Rasool, a native of Bijbehara area in south Kashmir.
