Faiz Fazal, the Vidarbha batsman, was packing his bags for training on a cold and wet Monday morning in Hetton-le-Hole, a small town in the north east of England, when he received a call from his father in Nagpur, informing him of his selection in India's limited-overs squad for the Zimbabwe tour in June. Fazal, who was not part of the IPL auction in February, has spent more than a month in England, where he has scored two centuries in four matches for Hetton Lyons Cricket Club in the Premier Division of the North East Premier League in Durham.

"This is a massive surprise for me," Fazal told ESPNcricinfo. "For two years before this, I kept looking up to see if I was picked every time a squad was announced. But I was disappointed each time. I've tried to consciously steer away from thoughts about selection, so to receive this news early morning from India is a big surprise, but I'm happy. It's funny how when you stop expecting something you have always chased, things start to happen."

Fazal said that the prospect of wearing the India cap was yet to sink in, but the disappointment of having missed the Under-19 World Cup in 2004 in Bangladesh because of an injury was still fresh. Fazal was withdrawn from the squad, days before the team's departure, and was replaced by Shikhar Dhawan. Incidentally, Fazal is likely to open in place of Dhawan in Zimbabwe.

"It's a huge thrill, no doubt," he said. "Apart from playing a few games against MS Dhoni, I haven't really had a chance to interact with him. That's something I'm looking forward to. At 30, you don't really know if the chance has bypassed you or not, but I had the belief. That has kept me going. So this is a sweet moment, and I'll cherish every minute of the experience."

With over 5000 runs in 79 first-class matches in over a decade, Fazal has been Vidarbha's batting mainstay. While his numbers in the 2015-16 Ranji Trophy season - 559 runs in 15 innings at 39.92 were underwhelming, his century in the Irani Cup helped Rest of India pull off a historic chase against Mumbai in March. Prior to the Irani Cup, Fazal had also made a match-winning century for India A in the Deodhar Trophy final.