Chawla can play big role in India''s WC campaign: RP Singh

Kanpur, Feb 14 (PTI) India pace discard R P Singh todaysaid if Piyush Chawla is given a place in the playing XI hecan unsettle the opponents with his variations in the CricketWorld Cup starting on Saturday.

Chawla troubled all the Australian batsmen on a turningtrack at Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore to return figures offour for 31 to play a big role in India''s victory in thewarm-up game.

"He did really well yesterday with the ball. He got goodamount of turn from the Chinnaswamy track to unsettle theAustralians. If he continued to perform in a similar fashionin the World Cup matches, he will surely play a big role inIndia''s for title triumph," Singh told PTI-Bhasha here.

"It doesn''t matter whether it was just a practice matchbut the way he bowled against defending champions Australiaand conceded only 31 runs from his nine overs, it''s no meanachievement. Any player who performs in the World Cup willreap the rich benefits later," added Singh, who is captainingUttar Pradesh''s one-day side in Vijay Hazare trophy.

Gyanendra Pandey, coach of UP''s Ranji team and who taughtChawla the nitty gritties of the game, said the leg-spinnerhas silenced the critics with his match-winning performance.

"All his UP team-mates are really proud of him. He wasjust amazing yesterday with the ball. Indian team was alwayson a look-out for a leg-spinner and I hope Chawla has filledthat spot. He has silence his critics who were questioning hisselection into the World Cup squad," Pandey said.

Pandey said with the World Cup happening in thesub-continent, Chawla will prove to be an asset for the teamboth with the ball and the bat.

"One of the reasons for his selection was team''s need tohave a specialist spinner who could also bat a bit. I amconfident if given a chance to play in the final XI, he willsurely contribute with the bat also and that would be good forthe side," he said.

India play their second warm-up game in Chennai onFebruary 16 against New Zealand before starting their WorldCup campaign against co-hosts Bangladesh at Mirpur on February19.