Dubai: UAE’s promising young batsman Chirag Suri has made headlines by making it into the list of Indian Premier League (IPL) players who will be up for grabs for the 2017 edition of the IPL to be held on February 20. The IPL governing body has pruned a list of 799 players, who registered for the upcoming edition of the IPL, to 351 players.
Suri will go under the hammer when the franchises sit down to pick fresh players and is listed among the 122 international players, which includes five players from Afghanistan. Suri is the only player from UAE in the list.
Speaking to Gulf News, 21-year-old Suri said: “It’s a great honour to be in the the list of players who will be auctioned for one of the finest tournaments in the world. I got picked as I fall in the under-23 category. I am hoping that I get selected and be part of such a tournament.”
An opening batsman, Suri has been scoring consistently in domestic tournaments and winning best batsman awards in inter-collegiate tournaments in UAE. He has played many match-wining knocks for Heriot Watt University.
Talking about how he got included in the prestigious IPL list, Suri said: “In 2014 when the IPL was held in UAE I got to play a few warm-up matches against IPL teams. Playing for UAE team, I scored a 70 off 40 balls against Rajasthan Royals in a practice match. Then when I played against Mumbai Indians, I hit two knocks of 40. Some of the teams were impressed by my performance. I thought I may get a call immediately but I am happy I am have been considered now.”
A string of big knocks against top teams also helped boost his chances. “Recently I played a knock of 117 against England Lions. In the Scottish Highlands games, I hit 175 for my college Heriot Watt. Maybe this is the reward for being one of the highest scorers in domestic cricket,” added Suri, whose parents have provided him full support to pursue his chosen career as a cricketer.
“I know it is not easy to make a career out of cricket. It is purely due to the positive support from my father and mother that I am able to pursue this dream and continue to score heavily. If I get to play in the IPL, I can get more experience and carry that experience into UAE and perform even better here,” said Suri,
A bigtime admirer of Virat Kohli, Suri believes that the best way to get noticed is to score runs and be focused on the job in hand. “I have also learnt that it is important to be fit and I work hard on my body to be fitter and that is helping me a lot too,” said Suri.
Meanwhile, Afghansitan team coach Lalchand Rajput said that “the five Afghanistan players who have got included in the list are Mohammad Nabi, Mohammad Shahzad, Dawlat Zadran, Asghar Stanikzai and Rashid Khan”
Incidentally, all the existing IPL players contracts will expire this season and all the teams will overhaul their squads for the 2018 edition.
