Nayan has eyes set on cracking the county circuit

Just like his father, he is also a left-arm spinner on the county circuit. And similarly a late starter: father made his Test debut at 31, s...

Just like his father, he is also a left-arm spinner on the county circuit. And similarly a late starter: father made his Test debut at 31, son his county debut at 25. But Nayan Doshi has his sight set on something very different to what father Dilip achieved: Playing for England, thanks to his English passport.

And despite making his debut for Surrey only last week 8212; and not, as reported, as the overseas replacement for Zaheer Khan 8212; Doshi Jr was hitting it off with his teammates. Speaking to The Sunday Express while at a team barbecue in Bristol, Nayan was having evidently having a ball.

His county debut comes after three years of hard slog on the Ranji circuit with Saurashtra and after his father prompted him to look at England. With a 14-year stint for Warwickshire and Nottinghamshire behind him, the senior Doshi was the best placed to speak. 8216;8216;The game has changed from his time but still Dad basically told me to just relax and bowl. He also said the counties are very approachable. I am glad I just followed his advice to the T.8217;8217;

Of all the cricket he has played in his short career, though, he believes the Saurashtra stint to be the best. 8216;8216;There is not a better place to learn the art of spin. Just by bowling to the Ranji batsmen you gain immensely 8212; that8217;s precisely why I chose to play for Saurashtra.8217;8217; But Nayan hasn8217;t exactly set the Arabian Sea on fire with his spells. His explanation: 8216;8216;Largely it depends on the way a player is handled. Last season I was handled better and it showed in that I was the only one who picked a five-wicket haul.8217;8217;

He8217;s aware that, at 25, and an England cap nowhere in the neighbourhood, time isn8217;t on his side. 8216;8216;To be honest I8217;m not think along those lines.8217;8217;

And if life is a struggle, he only has to ask his father for advice. 8216;8216;I have heard a lot about his struggle and how he got through it.8217;8217; Indeed, Dilip looms large on his son8217;s horizon. 8216;8216;He is my hero, whatever I have learnt in cricket has been because of him. If I can achieve one-tenth of what he achieved and remain half as humble as him it would be great.8217;8217;