Not too long ago, Mishra was a perpetual fringe player while Chawla, six years his junior, was seen as Anil Kumble’s heir apparent. But a turn of events over the last year has inverted the country’s leg-spin hierarchy, which was once again clear in the national selection meeting on Monday. While the 26-year-old Mishra was part of the Emerging team and the Champions Trophy probables, Chawla was left wondering when his chance would come again, especially with Rahul Dravid’s inclusion an indication that the committee headed by Krishnamachari Srikkanth was not pursuing a youth policy any longer.

Mishra acknowledged the irony of the situation when asked about Chawla’s predicament. “I know what he must be feeling. I’ve seen worse days,” Mishra told The Indian Express. “I was performing consistently on the domestic circuit and suddenly there was talk about this young leggie (Chawla). At one point, when I was injured for more than two years, I thought my career was over,” he added.

The Haryana bowler stressed the need for a positive mindset when the chips were down. “It’s important for all players to be confident but it’s absolutely vital for a leg-spinner. For this kind of bowling, you require a lot of self-belief. An insecure leggie can never be successful in an art where picking up wickets depends on tempting the batsmen with flight.”

While Mishra is excited about the trip to Australia and hopes that he makes the cut for the Champions Trophy, all Chawla is hoping for right now is a call from Sussex, where he was impressive last month during his short stint as a substitute to their overseas player Yasir Arafat.

“I had a decent show for Sussex, I was expecting my name at least in the Champions Trophy probables. I will lie if I say I’m not hurt,” Chawla said, but added that age was on his side in his up-and-down battle with Mishra.

“Things were different for Mishra during his days of struggle because he was older than me. I’m not too disappointed overall. If you’re taking wickets and performing regularly, you know opportunities will come your way some day,” he said. “If I would have not performed and not giving my best, I would’ve been upset.”