The rookie spinner Aman Virdi is eying on his maiden Test cap against West Indies as the youngster is not leaving any stone unturned to get a spot in the playing eleven.
The 21-year-old had impressed with his bowling in the 23 first-class games he played so far. He has been part of several England Lions squads and received impressive reviews from his coaches at Surrey.
He is the youngest and least-experienced of the five specialist spinners in England's 30-man training group.
"Obviously I am here so I want to be playing Test cricket whenever that comes, so I am going to keep on trying my hardest to make sure that I am playing. I do not really try to impress as such - I want to do my own thing and be who I am. That's what I want to show people and show people what I'm capable of doing, rather than doing other things or try to forcefully show my skills," ESPNcricinfo quoted Virdi as saying.
"So far I have just been myself and just been bowling and doing all my other skills. I definitely do want to be playing in the first Test match, or at least be in the squad. If I didn't want to do that I probably shouldn't be here. I am very proud of myself that I have got to this stage. The next stage is about pushing for a Test place, so whenever that does happen I am going to keep working hard," he added.
Virdi will get a tough fight for his place in the side as the English team have experienced spinners like Jack Leach, Dom Bess and Moeen Ali.
Virdi has sweated a lot to improve his fitness standard after he was not being considered for selection at the county level due to his low fitness standard.
"I do not think I'd be here if that did not happen. I probably did not put as much focus on that part of my game as I should have, and it probably took something like that to understand how important it was. If that did not happen, I would have struggled then progressing to the next level," he said.
"It has had a big impact on my bowling and everything like that. I am hitting most of those minimum standards and now it is a case of making sure I am fit enough to play the game and making sure that even after a long day's play I am ready to go the next day and that's key for me especially wanting to play Test cricket," he added.
International cricket has been suspended since March due to the coronavirus pandemic, but the action is set to resume in July as England and West Indies will take on each other in the three-match Test series.
The first Test of the series will be played at The Rose Bowl in Southampton from July 8.
( With inputs from ANI )
