Piyush Chawla is determined to make the most of his unexpected opportunity to play for Sussex again.
The 20-year-old Indian leg spinner has rejoined the county for the rest of the season, three months after he made a sensational impact in his first spell as replacement for Yasir Arafat as overseas player.
In two Championship games he took 19 wickets and scored an unbeaten 102 batting at No.9.
Sussex believe he could be key to their Championship survival bid with four games to go, two of them at Hove where conditions should suit him.
Chawla said: “I didn’t expect the call when it came but it’s great to be back with the Sussex boys again.
“I was training at the National Academy in Bangalore but I hadn’t been doing much at home so this is a great opportunity for me to get some good preparation for the Champions League next month.”
Arafat warned Sussex the day after they had won the Twenty20 Cup that he was expecting to be in Pakistan’s squad for the Champions Trophy later this month.
But when it was announced at the weekend Arafat had not been included, although he is on stand-by.
He will remain with the county until his visa for India is processed before returning home next week to rest before the Champions League when he and Chawla will be Sussex’s two overseas players.
Chawla is expected to replace Arafat full-time in 2010 and he was able to return straight away because his visa was still valid.
Coach Mark Robinson said: “Piyush offers a lot on the field and impressed in his short spell earlier in the season. He’s a match winner and this could be crucial.”
Chawla bowled 11 tidy but wicketless overs on the first day against Lancashire at Old Trafford in conditions a lot different to those he had been experiencing in India, where the temperature topped 40 degrees.
Lancashire reached 131-5 in the 56.1 overs that were possible before rain on the pitch England had been due to play a Twenty20 international against Australia on the previous evening.
That was abandoned because of concern about a wet patch in the bowlers’ landing area but, though there had been more overnight rain, it didn’t pose a problem for Robin Martin-Jenkins, Chawla or Ollie Rayner who all had spells running through the damp patch.
Rayner took a wicket with his second ball when Mal Loye, who had held Lancashire’s top order together with his seventh half-century of the season, gave Chawla catching practice at backward point after slicing a drive when he came down the pitch looking to hit over long on.
The ball swung all day with Corey Collymore and Martin-Jenkins, who bowled an 11-over morning spell, picking up a wicket apiece before Dwayne Smith enhanced his growing reputation as a decent first-change seamer with two wickets.
After tempting VVS Laxman with several away-swingers he thudded one back into the Indian’s pads before ending an obdurate innings by Mark Chilton, who edged an outswinger to slip.
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