Ajmal Shahzad says he has still got plenty of learning to do despite being fast-tracked into England’s World Twenty20 squad.

This time last year the 24-year-old bowler was preparing for a summer of trying to cement his place in Yorkshire’s first team after a couple of injury-hit seasons.

But now, he is ready to play his part in England’s bid to become 20-over champions of the world.

“It’s been a big year for me,” said the paceman. “But I keep reminding people that I’ve only played 22 first-class games. I’m still learning. I might be a senior bowler here at Yorkshire, but I’ve not fully matured yet.”

Shahzad, who signed a new long-term contract with Yorkshire earlier in the winter, took 40 wickets and scored 445 runs in the County Championship last term, and has raised expectation levels.

“Last year people didn’t expect too much from me because they didn’t know what I was capable of doing,” he continued. “But I expect a lot from myself, and I wanted to be Yorkshire’s leading wicket-taker.”

Shahzad could be available for the first two Championship matches of the season before jetting off to the Caribbean. He would then miss three four-day matches before returning towards the end of May.

It is expected he will link up with West Indian fast bowler Tino Best, who is on the verge of completing his move to Headingley, in next week’s opener against Warwickshire at Edgbaston.

Both men have that extra yard of pace, and it is a fearsome prospect for opposition batsmen.

“That’s the way we want it be,” he said. “We want batsmen to feel intimidated when they come up against us.

“That’s going to be another learning curve for me. He’s played Test cricket, and it will be interesting to see how he goes about his game. I’m really looking forward to it.”

Shahzad oozes confidence – not just in himself, but also in his team-mates around him.

On Yorkshire’s prospects for 2010, he continued: “We’ve got a young squad, but there’s a lot of talent and enthusiasm there.

“We’ve got the likes of Wainers, Rash, Jacques, Brezzy, Mags and Galey. We’ve got some fantastic players at this club.

“I think we can definitely push for a top-three finish in the Championship, and in the one-day format I think that we can be challenging to win things.”

Meanwhile, emerging seam bowler James Lee is determined to use Shahzad’s rapid rise to international cricket as inspiration for his own game.

The 21-year-old has only played two first-class matches for Yorkshire, but has been earmarked as someone capable of forcing his way into the White Rose county’s first team this summer.

He said: “Ajmal was in a similar position to me at this time last year. Now he is playing international cricket. It just shows you how quickly things can change. The sky’s the limit. I’ve put in a lot of hard work this winter, and hopefully that will pay off.”