Surrey Sign Piyush Chawla for 2010

21 October 2009

Surrey County Cricket Club today announced the signing of Indian leg spinner Piyush Chawla for the 2010 English season.

Chawla, 20, has great pedigree in the English game, taking 36 wickets for Sussex in first-class cricket during last season at an average of 27.25. Further to this, he has played two Test Matches and 21 One Day Internationals for his country, taking 31 wickets.

The young Indian made a huge impact during his first period in English cricket last year, first scoring 102 not out from 86 balls and then taking 6/152 as Sussex beat Worcestershire by ten wickets. In his second game he took impressive match figures of 11/170 against Somerset.

When he returned to the county in September Chawla picked up where he left off, dismissing England stars Ian Bell and Jonathan Trott when Warwickshire played at Hove and then taking match figures of 9/249 off 87 overs against Yorkshire. His final matches for Sussex were in the ongoing Champions League Twenty20 against New South Wales and Diamond Eagles.

Chawla will join up with Surrey at the conclusion of the Indian Premier League, where he represents the Kings XI Punjab and has 29 wickets at a very good average of 24.03.

The capture of the Indian rising star is Surrey’s third signing of the winter, with England Internationals Steven Davies and Gareth Batty both joining the Club from Worcestershire.

Speaking about the signing, Surrey’s Professional Cricket Manager Chris Adams said: “There were two clear objectives in picking our overseas signing for next season. I wanted the player to be of true International class and I wanted them to be able to commit to spending the vast majority of their season with us – Piyush fulfills both requirements handsomely.

“There is a fine spin tradition at Surrey which runs from Jim Laker and Tony Lock to Ian Salisbury, Harbhajan Singh and Saqlain Mushtaq and I hope our latest arrival will one day take his place alongside those names.”

Managing Director of Surrey Cricket Gus Mackay added: “After the problems we have suffered in the past I am very pleased we can announce the signing of a world-class overseas player so early in our pre-season schedule. The knowledge of this signing will bring a solidity to our preparations that can only be highly beneficial.”

Click on the " Play Video " button in the picture at the top of this article to get the thoughts of Gus Mackay on the signing of Piyush Chawla