Ottis Gibson believes there is plenty more to come from Yorkshire CCC rookie Jafer Chohan

As the floodlights beamed down on an emptying scene, with the T20 Blast Off crowd filing their way into the Birmingham night, Gibson might have wondered it himself after an eye-catching debut from Jafer Chohan.

A 20-year-old leg-spinner chosen in the absence of Adil Rashid, Chohan did pretty well in his strongest suit, despite unremarkable figures of 2-0-22-0. His first over went for just four singles and closed out a strong first half of the Yorkshire bowling effort, with Birmingham reaching 70-4 after 10 overs.

Chohan’s next over, the 12th of the innings, was not quite as auspicious, with 18 runs coming from it as Birmingham improbably creamed 130 runs off the final 10 overs to finish with 200-6.

But it was with the bat that Chohan, at No 10, really caught the eye, not so much in terms of his output (37 runs from 20 balls with three sixes and a four) but the way he went about things, displaying a fighting attitude that augurs well.

Yorkshire were facing a heavy defeat when he arrived at the crease at 104-8 in the 15th over (they had been 66-7) but he shared 62 with Dom Bess – a Yorkshire ninth-wicket record in T20 – before Henry Brookes bowled him three balls from the end as Birmingham won comfortably by 34 runs.

Especially impressive was the way that Chohan powered England’s Chris Woakes for successive sixes, followed by another off the left-arm spinner Jake Lintott, which suggested a certain self-assuredness on the big stage.

There was, in short, a lot to like about a young man who Gibson urged to do exactly what he has since arriving at the club – go about his work with a smile on his face.

“We saw a lot of things that we liked in him, that’s why we signed him,” said Gibson of the South Asian Cricket Academy (SACA) graduate, who is playing on a one-year rookie contract.

“He bowled well – his first over was excellent – and then when he batted he showed what he can do with the bat as well. Despite everything that happened in the game, I thought he had a really good debut.”

Gibson was particularly taken with Chohan’s self-belief. Although only at the start of what he hopes will be a long and successful career, Chohan showed the sort of pluck that saw him climb through the ranks at Middlesex and then on to a stint with Berkshire, before impressing for SACA against county second teams.

“He certainly backs himself,” added Gibson, “and I like that about him. He’s very confident, and I like that, too.

"You know, Chris Woakes bowled short at him (at Edgbaston) and he wasn’t afraid to take it on. There’s a lot to look forward to from him going forward.”

Gibson is also looking forward to seeing David Wiese, the Namiba international set to make his Yorkshire debut in the second group game against Worcestershire at New Road on Friday.

Wiese missed the Birmingham match due to his involvement at the Indian Premier League and, with an excellent track record in the T20 format, he has buckets of skill and experience.

“He will bring experience and we need that,” said Gibson. “We’ve got a lot of experience at the top with the bat – Malan, Lyth, Shan, and so on, but Wiese will bring us experience at the back end, and obviously experience with the ball as well.

“You look at Revis, you look at Leech… Thompson was our most senior guy (with the ball at Edgbaston) at 26, so Wiese will bring experience in all departments.”

Regardless of the personnel available and selected at New Road, Gibson wants, first and foremost, a win on the board.

It is nine months since Yorkshire won a game (there was a close-season in between, of course) and after a barren start in the County Championship, the coming days present an excellent opportunity to finally get things moving, with Friday’s match followed by a game against Durham at Headingley on Sunday.

“We need to get a win, obviously,” said Gibson. “That goes without saying; we try to win every game that we play. We did some good things against Birmingham, and some not so good things.

“For the first 10 overs in our bowling innings we were brilliant, but the last 10 overs went for over 100 runs. That’s something we need to clean up for the next match.

“Then, with the bat, in the first 10 overs of our innings, we didn’t give ourselves a chance (Yorkshire were 66-7 at the halfway stage).

“But it was still good to see us at least carry that innings all the way to the 20th over; Dom Bess played very well, along with Jafer.

“So there were a lot of good signs, but it was still another loss – and I don’t like losses.”

England white-ball captain Jos Buttler will return to action for Lancashire in the Roses clash with Yorkshire at Headingley on June 1 and be available for the remainder of their Vitality Blast campaign.