Legspinner Jafer Chohan Returned Home Early from England’s West Indies Tour to Manage Workload Ahead of Busy Winter Schedule
London, 11 November 2024 – Jafer Chohan, the promising Yorkshire legspinner, has been released from England’s white-ball tour of the Caribbean before making his international debut. The team management has decided to manage Chohan’s workload in preparation for the upcoming Lions tour of South Africa and his participation in the Big Bash League with the Sydney Sixers.
Chohan, 22, made history last month by becoming the first graduate of the South Asian Cricket Academy (SACA) to be named in an England squad. The academy, launched in 2021 by Dr. Tom Brown, aims to address the underrepresentation of British South Asian players in professional cricket. Chohan’s opportunity with Yorkshire arose after he was released by Middlesex as a 17-year-old in 2019.
“SACA helped me a hell of a lot,” he told ESPNcricinfo after his call-up. “I felt like my game was in a pretty good place, but there’s no real way in, once I got out of the system. It was really tough to think, ‘Okay, I want to become a pro cricketer, how can I actually do it?’ And SACA provided that opportunity for me.”
Despite the exciting prospect of a potential debut, Chohan will not be making the step-up to England international status just yet. He will return home on Monday, while the rest of the England squad relocates from Barbados to St. Lucia, where they currently hold a 2-0 lead in the five-match T20I series.
The decision to release Chohan from the tour reflects the depth of spin options available to England, with the likes of Adil Rashid, Rehan Ahmed, Liam Livingstone, Jacob Bethell, Dan Mousley, and Will Jacks already in the current starting XI. Additionally, the T20I team’s ongoing success has also contributed to the management’s decision to prioritize Chohan’s workload management.
Chohan’s fast-tracking into the England set-up is still a notable achievement, considering the progress he has made since 2022, when he was playing National Counties cricket for Berkshire.
The legspinner is now set to focus on the upcoming Lions tour of South Africa, which will be Andrew Flintoff’s first outing as head coach, as well as his upcoming stint with the Sydney Sixers in the Big Bash League, which commences on December 15.
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