GUYANESE LEG-SPINNER Devendra Bishoo says gaining selection on the West Indies’ World Cup team is a dream come true for him.
Bishoo, 25, had to dramatically miss the final day’s play of Guyana’s fourth-round WICB Regional First-class match against Barbados on Monday after receiving the call to replace injured all-rounder Dwayne Bravo.
He was forced to hurry to his Berbice home late Sunday at the end of the penultimate day’s play before returning the next morning to take his flight from the Timehri Airport to travel to Bangladesh ahead of the West Indies’ next match tomorrow against the Tigers.
“Right now I am excited to say the least. I have always dreamt about playing for the West Indies, as all cricketers within the Caribbean would do,” the slim wrist spinner said just before departure.
“When I got the call to play for the ‘A’ team last year, I realised I was one step closer to making my dream a reality, and after taking seven wickets in the series against Pakistan’s ‘A’ team, I knew my chances would increase.”
Bishoo, who has improved by leaps and bounds over the past two seasons and has been particularly impressive in the Twenty20 and 50-over formats, said he enjoyed challenging the batsmen with his leg breaks and googly bowling.
“I believe my style of bowling is an aggressive one and given the amount of matches remaining for Guyana to play [in the regional four-day competition], my aim was to progress further.
“Unfortunately, I am unable to do so now as my dreams became a reality. And this opportunity could not come at a better time, as I am feeling fit and ready to go.
“In fact, I can hardly wait to don the maroon of the senior team and have a go at some of the world’s best,” a confident Bishoo said.
Bishoo won the Most Valuable Player award in the inaugural Caribbean T20 Cup, when he and Jonathan Foo spearheaded Guyana to a thrilling triumph over Barbados in the final when he also hit the winning runs.
As a result, Guyana were the Caribbean representatives at the Airtel Champions League T20 tournament in South Africa.
He was among the top wicket takers in the WICB 50-over tournament in Jamaica last year, taking ten wickets, pushing his tally to 25 in ten List A matches at an average of 12.64 and an economy rate of 3:95 runs an over.
