Dinda owes Irani Trophy call-up to IPL

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Mumbai: One of the most impressive pacers in the inaugural Indian Premier League (IPL), Ashok Dinda, said he was expecting the Irani Trophy call-up as he has been doing well in the last one year or so.

"This is a great thing to happen to me. In a way I was hoping for it because I have been doing well since last year. It may not be like representing my country but it (picked for the Rest of India team) is still a huge step forward," said Dinda, who replaced an injured S Sreesanth in the India-A squad which is playing a three-day game against Australia-A in Hyderabad.

"Sharing the dressing room with great players like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and Anil Kumble will be a great opportunity for me to learn so many things. This is surely one of the high points of my career," the Bengal youngster has been quoted as saying in Mid-Day.

"I must thank IPL for this opportunity as I had an average first class season before playing for Kolkata Knight Riders. If there was no IPL, I would not be here. Everyone started knowing me after I did well there. I had not even played an ODI game before. IPL changed my life around completely," he added.