Naman Dhir says he could not process India call-up for 10 minutes

Naman Dhir stared at the BCCI squad announcement for ten minutes before it sank in. He had seen a congratulatory Instagram message earlier and assumed it was spam until he opened the official post himself. Then he rang his father.

Seven years had passed since his last age-group match for Punjab's U-16 side. A strong U-25 showing earned him a Ranji debut and a Mumbai Indians contract, and eight days before the India call he hammered 173 off 64 balls in the Sher-e-Punjab T20 League at a strike rate of 217.61.

He grew up watching the current senior players; now he expects to bat lower middle order beside them.