Doing well in England will open doors of the Indian team: Ankit Bawne

Maharashtra batsman Ankit Bawne feels that the upcoming England tour of India A will provide him with a great opportunity to prove himself in front of the selectors, and he is hopeful to live up to their expectations. India A team will be playing a four-day test against England A at Worcester, along with a couple more three-day tests against the country teams. Bawne wants to put up a good show in the series and to try and catch the selecting committee’s attention.

Bawne has been in the First Class cricket circuit for a while now. He debuted against Karnataka way back in 2007, at the age of 15. By now, he has played 78 First Class matches and has scored 5,367 runs, and the highest knock of 258*. The 2016-2017 season brought him into the limelight, as he put on a massive 594 run unbeaten partnership with Swapnil Gugale in Ranji Trophy.

Important to make an impact in England

Bawne hopes to impress the selectors in England and prove that he is capable of performing on all surfaces. “This is important for me,” Bawne says about the England tour. “For me, it’s a good opportunity, because if I do well in this series, then selectors will notice it.”

“I have done well in past India ‘A’ tours. I have done well in South Africa and (against) New Zealand (in India). So, I have some performances to back me up. If I do well in England, I can give the selectors the kind of impression that this guy can perform in England also, as we know bowlers and pitches in England are competitive.”

Bawne is definitely treating the series as a platform to get his break in the national team. “If I do well there (in England), that is going to get the eye of selectors and they are going to start believing that this guy can perform in all situations and (on) all wickets. So, that way, I am thinking that if I do well in that series, it’s going to open doors of the Indian team,” Bawne sounded confident.

The four-day match starts on July 16. But Bawne has already started his preparations for it on tracks similar to what he will get in England.

“I have been practising in Pune for the past one month on similar wickets (to that of England) and with the bowling machine, I practice (against) swing. In Ranji Trophy also, I have scored a lot of runs on seaming tracks. Wherever there were challenging or bowler-friendly wickets, I have scored runs,” he explained to the reporters.

‘Dravid knows my game inside out’

While in England, he will be under the tutelage of Rahul Dravid. But this is not the first time Bawne will be having this privilege. He was a part of the A team that toured South Africa, and also the team for the New Zealand series at home. The two were together in Delhi Daredevils as well. Dravid’s tips and suggestions about his batting has helped him to improve, said Bawne.

“This is not my first time with Rahul Sir. I have been with him in South Africa and (during the) New Zealand (A tour in India), and with the (Delhi) Daredevils. He knows my game inside out. You get to learn a lot from Rahul Sir because he is someone who has scored a lot of runs for India.”

“His inputs and thoughts about the game are important. He told me to work on specific things after the South Africa tour and then after that, I started working on them and I got runs in the Ranji Trophy and in the New Zealand series (in India),” he signed off.”

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