In the 2005–06 Challenger Trophy, Chawla was selected to play for India B. Although he only bowled three of a possible ten overs in the first match of the series, conceding 21, he picked up two wickets in the next match against India A, and as India B reached the final against the Seniors, he took the wicket of Sachin Tendulkar – bowled with a googly – in an effort described by Cricinfo as "impressive". He also dismissed Yuvraj Singh and Mahendra Singh Dhoni, to end with three for 49, but the Seniors still won by three wickets. Two weeks later, he made his first class debut for Central Zone against South Zone in the Duleep Trophy, and scored 60 in a 92-run eighth-wicket stand with Harvinder Singh. He also finished with match bowling figures of 27.2–3–100–6, admittedly only getting one of the top five batsman once. He has been known by Kiran More since the age of 15 and at only 17 has potentially got a great cricketing future in front of him. He proved himself again when he took 4 wickets in 8 overs conceding only 8 runs in the U-19 World Cup final of 2006. He also made 25 (n.o.) runs.