From almost nowhere to India nets: Pacer Ankit Rajpoot’s story

By Khurram Habib New Delhi, Jan 26 : Uttar Pradesh pace bowler Ankit Rajpoot, who will bowl at the Indian team’s nets during the upcoming series against England, has been a domestic workhorse quite like Brisbane Test hero Shardul Thakur, having played 63 first-class games.
And like Thakur, T Natarajan, and Navdeep Saini, who went from being net bowlers to Test players in Australia following injuries to main bowlers, 27-year-old Rajpoot is also hoping that his performance in the India nets would be noticed.
With no red-ball cricket around, the India nets are something Rajpoot is looking forward to for impressing the Indian team team management.
“My plan is to impress everyone, the captain and coaches. It has been a while since ‘A’ series or any red ball cricket has happened. So, there has been no way to impress the selectors. My plan is to impress with my bowling at nets,” Rajpoot told IANS.
“There have been no India A team matches. On the India bench, it is the A players who are called up. We have been called up for the nets. Avesh Khan [a pacer from Madhya Pradesh who has also been called up for nets] and I have played matches for India A together. I am hoping that the team management realises that we are in touch with cricket,” he said.
His selection among the five net bowlers has excited Rajpoot and raised his hope.