Being selected in India T20I squad an extremely rewarding milestone: Harshal
Nov 17, 2021
Jaipur (Rajasthan) [India], November 17 : All-rounder Harshal Patel on Wednesday said that being selected in India's T20I squad is an extremely rewarding milestone, but it is not the final destination for him.
"Not the final destination but certainly an extremely rewarding milestone. Took me a while to get here and I am grateful for every experience on the way. The journey will continue and with it, all the ups and downs," Harshal wrote in an Instagram post.
"I'm forever indebted to my family and friends who helped me get here. It's time to enjoy this opportunity and contribute in whatever capacity," he added.
India won the toss and opted to bowl first against New Zealand in the first T20I here at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium on Wednesday. Venkatesh Iyer was handed his cap by India skipper Rohit Sharma and he will make his T20I debut in the first T20I. Harshal has not been picked in the playing XI for the first match of the series.
Speaking at the toss, Rohit said, "We will bowl first. The wicket looks good, thought behind is to have a score behind us, there was quite a lot of dew while practising from a couple of days. It's been good, has been only 2 days, been a quick turnaround, back from Dubai, spent a couple of days and back here. But it'll be good for the team."
India playing XI: Rohit Sharma(c), KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant(w), Venkatesh Iyer, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Mohammed Siraj.
New Zealand playing XI: Martin Guptill, Daryl Mitchell, Mark Chapman, Glenn Phillips, Tim Seifert(w), Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee(c), Todd Astle, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult.
