Bulawayo: He was expected to script a new chapter of hope in the sporting history of Jammu and Kashmir but it ended up being a case of so near yet so far for all-rounder Parveez Rasool, who was not included in the Indian cricket team for any of the five ODIs against Zimbabwe.
Once the series was clinched by taking an unassailable 3-0 lead, Indian skipper Virat Kohli was expected to give all the bench players a chance.
Quite a few of them like Mohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara got the captain's nod except for Rasool, who now has to wait for some more time to make his international debut.
It was quite surprising that the team management did not give Rasool an opportunity even in the very last match despite having a 4-0 lead in the series.
The 24-year-old Rasool, who hails from Beijbehara, has been in contention for national selection for a while now after a string of impressive performances at the first-class level.
Rasool was the standout performer for Jammu and Kashmir in the 2012-13 Ranji Trophy, ending the season as its top scorer and highest wicket-taker.
In his seven Ranji matches, Rasool scored 594 runs at 54 with two centuries, and took 33 wickets at 18.09 to finish as the third-highest wicket-taker among spinners in the tournament.
Rasool, who made his first-class debut for J&K in the 2008-09 season, has played 17 first-class matches, scoring 1003 runs and taking 46 wickets.
Rasool made headlines after being named in the India A and Board Presidents XI squads for the warm-up matches against England and Australia in late 2012 and early this year.
Although he did not make much of an impact against England, Rasool returned impressive figures of 7/45 against the Aussies in February. In that particular match he was also the second highest scorer for his team with 36.
The all-rounder cashed in on the opportunity to become the first cricketer from the valley to bag an IPL contract when he was signed by Pune Warriors India ahead of the sixth edition of the cash-rich T20 league.
Omar Abdullah lashes out at BCCI

Jammu and Kashmir CM hits out at BCCI for not playing Rasool
Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today lashed out at the BCCI for not fielding all-rounder Parvez Rasool in any of the five ODI games against Zimbabwe. "Did you really have to take him all the way to Zimbabwe to demoralise him? Wouldn't it have been cheaper to just do it at home?" Omar said in a sarcastic tweet after Rasool was not included in the last game against the minnows.
Disappointed at Rasool's non-inclusion in the playing XI of Indian cricket team in the ongoing Zimbabwe tour, Omar yesterday urged the BCCI to give him a chance to prove himself. "Come on BCCI give the young man (Rasool) a chance to prove himself," Omar wrote on his twitter page yesterday.
The Chief Minister, an avid cricket follower, had expressed disappointment that the Jammu and Kashmir cricketer has not been given a game even though India has taken an unassailable lead in five-match the ODI series.
"Really disappointed that Parvez Rasool hasn't been given a game in Zimbabwe," he said.
Rasool is the only member of the 15-member squad who has not seen any action so far. Ajinkya Rahane was warming the bench alongside Rasool but the opening batsman got his chance in today's game.
Rasool shot to fame with a brilliant all-round performance in the Ranji Trophy last season by scoring 594 runs and grabbing 33 wickets.
His selection to national squad was fast-tracked after he took seven wickets in one innings of a tour game against visiting Australians earlier this year.