Ramdin to continue excellence with bat, gloves

ONE OF West Indies most experienced players, Denesh Ramdin has been a hero for cricket fans in the Caribbean across all formats. A sharp-witted campaigner behind the stumps, and a powerhouse with the bat in the middle order, the local boy has been a part of the TKR family since 2016.

Ramdin led both TT and West Indies Under-19 before making a mark in international cricket. He was only 19 years of age, with just 13 First-Class matches against his name, when he was picked to represent the WI men’s team on their tour to Sri Lanka in 2005.

Over the years, Ramdin has quietly gone about playing a crucial role in WI’s progress with both bat and gloves. Interestingly, Ramdin has not bowled a single ball in his international career, even though his friends from early days recollect his talent as a fast bowler!

Ramdin has not been a part of the One-Day International and Test set-up since 2016, but continues to show off his strengths in Twenty20 Internationals. His knock of 169 in an ODI (One Day International) against Bangladesh in 2014 at Basseterre, St Kitts, which included a mammoth 258-run partnership with TKR teammate Darren Bravo, remains etched in the minds of all Windies fans, who have craved for such performances from their players after years of dominance in the early years reached spilled into an era of rebuilding, when moments of celebrations became limited.

The Trinidadian boasts of a healthy career strike rate of 116.66 in Twenty20 Internationals, which has seen him don the WI colours on 68 occasions. Having shown his prowess with Guyana Amazon Warriors and St Lucia Zouks in the Caribbean Premier League in the past, Ramdin went on to earn fans overseas with Lahore Qalandars in the Pakistan Super League and more recently, with Montreal Tigers in the Global Twenty20 in Canada.

Trinbago Knight Riders fans will be looking forward to another great outing from the veteran, who notably blasted a 34-ball half-century against St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in 2017 to seal an unlikely win for the side and send them to the knockout phase of the tournament, which they eventually went on to win.