Kolkata June 30 (IANS) Over the moon after his India A call-up for the South Africa tour Bengal batsman Sudip Chatterjee is hoping to learn a lot under coach Rahul Dravid.
I cannot express how happy I am. Playing for India is a dream and this is the first stepping stone towards it Chatterjee told IANS on Friday.
Rahul sir has always been an inspiration and getting to work with him is great. I am so looking forward to learning from him and fine tuning my batting skills. He is a legend and I don t want to miss out on this opportunity he added.
Dravid is the coach of both the India A and India Under-19 squads.
Chatterjee fared well during Bengal s Ranji Trophy campaign last season aggregating 557 runs in seven matches -- the second best after skipper Manoj Tiwary s 643.
The All-India Senior Selection Committee met on Thursday to pick the India A team for the upcoming tour of South Africa to be held over July and August.
In SOuth Africa the India A team will play a One-Day tri-series also involving Australia and two four-day matches.
India batsman Karun Nair has been named to captain the India A Test squad while Manish Pandey will be leading the One-Day team.
Chatterjee has been selected for the Test team.
I am preparing well. You need to put in the extra yards when you know how difficult it can get in South Africa. This is my first time abroad so I don t want to leave any stones unturned the 25-year old left-hander said.
Chatterjee added that he will be speaking to former India captain and Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) President Sourav Ganguly before he leaves for South Africa.
I will seek his advice. As I said this is my first tour abroad and since he is around there is no better person to advice me on the conditions there. I know the pitches will be fast and will have carry Chatterjee said.
(Debayan Mukherjee can be contacted at debayan.m@ians.in)
--IANS
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Elated Sudip Chatterjee looking forward to India A opportunity
