Rajasthan fast-bowler Aniket Choudhary, who was recently in the news for an impressive outing for India A, taking four wickets in the warm-up game against Bangladesh, has expressed his delight after being bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore for a whopping Rs 2 crore .
However, the bowler has said that the massive price tag at which he was bought in the recently concluded auction is not the best thing that has happened during his career. For the left-arm pacer, getting a call from India skipper Virat Kohli to bowl at the Indian nets was the best thing to have happened to him.
The Indian Test team roped in the 27-year old during the New Zealand series to counter left-arm bowler Trent Boult’s swing. And the Rajasthan pacer has been called by the Indian team once again to train with the team, which is currently preparing for the upcoming four-Test series against Australia. Aniket was called up to help the team counter the pace and bounce of Australian pacer Mitchell Starc.
Speaking to CricketNext, he said:“I am really pleased that RCB picked me at the auction. It is a huge boost to the confidence when a franchise which has stars like Kohli, Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers among others feel that you can add to the team. But to be honest to you, my biggest motivation was when Kohli called on me at the India nets. To have a batsmen of his stature wanting to face you in the nets is a feeling I can’t express in words.
“I was there when the Indian team was preparing for the Test series against New Zealand and people said I was preparing them for the Trent Boult-challenge and here I am bowling to them going into the Test series against India and the media is talking about me preparing them for the Starc-Test. But I don’t like to get into these things. My job is to go out there and help the batsmen get a good net session,” said the bowler who has taken 124 wickets in 39 first-class matches for Rajasthan .
“Also, I think it is a case of a similarity in height and the angle from which the ball comes out when you are a left-arm pacer that makes the media feel that I am being used to prepare the batsmen for the challenges that Starc will bring. Personally for me, it is about working towards achieving my goal of playing for India soon,” he added.
Speaking about Virat Kohli, he said:“He is unbelievable. The kind of work-ethics he has is amazing. He is my idol and I look at him and try to learn everything possible. He has always kept it simple and asked me to focus on my basics. He told me to bowl to my strength and not get overawed by the situation and that has really helped.”
He further said that the IPL is an excellent platform for the youngsters. Expressing his excitement to play alongside some of the finest players in the world, he said:“It is an excellent platform for young players who want to learn from those who have already made it big on the international stage. The league is just as competitive like international cricket and I can’t wait to jump in and learn as much as I can. I want to pick the brains of all the experienced campaigners. I am also looking forward to interacting with Tymal Mills. He too is a left-arm pacer and will be in the same team so that will help. I will try and learn a few tricks from him.”
A proven performer with the red cherry, Aniket is yet to prove his mettle in the shorter versions of the game but he is confident of doing well in the IPL.
“I do realise that the challenges of white ball and red ball cricket is very different. I played for Central Zone recently and did decently I would like to believe. I have already started to work on my bowling further and I have a month’s time to get the act right. I will be working on the change of length, the yorkers and the slower deliveries mostly,” he concluded.