He was taken aback when he found his name in the India Green team. There was no way the Jammu and Kashmir captain could have made it back to the country in time for the first match.

But when he finally got the chance to play for India Green against India Blue at the Green Park Stadium yesterday, the off-spinner made up for the disappointment.

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Bowling with guile he picked up five for 70 to spin out India Blue for 177. India Green skipper Parthiv Patel could not have asked for a better performance from his bowlers, especially Rasool, in the must-win game for them.

When Green had lost the first match to India Red in Lucknow, Patel had said that the team had badly missed the services of a quality spinner like Rasool on a turning track.

Now, with the wily off-spinner back, the team got the cutting edge that they had missed earlier.

Against India Blue yesterday, initially Rasool got hammered as he tended to give the ball a bit of air. But once he lowered his trajectory and pushed the ball through, he began to trouble the batsmen. He tempted Suresh Raina to play a bit early to hole out at mid-off and also castled Manoj Tiwary with a beauty. The two were the mainstay of the Blue innings and once they were sent packing, the rest of the resistance just crumbled.