At 19, Ravi Rampaul is hardly the archetypal West Indian fast bowler with a tall lean frame and long arms. But, as the Trinidad-born youngster cheerfully admits, he is getting there — with a quiet awareness of his unique position in the Caribbean. Rampaul is the first West Indian of Indian ancestry to break the mould; he’s the build, the same age and bowls the same speed a steady 130 kmph as Irfan Pathan.
Others from his community have played for the West Indies, of course, Rampaul’s the 20th but they’ve either been spinners like Ramadhin and Nagamootoo or batsmen like Kanhai, Kallicharran and Sarwan. Rampaul is different.
It doesn’t quite strike him that way, though, as he doesn’t look on himself as being anything particularly special. Yet Tony Cozier, the chronicler of West Indian cricket, says Rampaul is proud of his ethnic roots and hopes other fast bowlers of Indian descent will be inspired by his example.
Though Rampaul has his own opinion on his speed. ‘‘I do not really think of myself as being really fast not yet. I see TV pictures of Irfan Pathan and Ashish Nehra bowling in Australia and wonder what it would be like bowling like that. I find that inspiring and would like to be as good as they are and to do it for the West Indies’’, he told this correspondent.
Indeed, at first, he didn’t even plan a career as a fast bowler. In Caribbean, that role had long been the preserve of those of African ancestry; in Rampaul an alternative model of pace and fire has emerged and, as former Test fast bowlers Ian Bishop and Colin Croft happily admit, it makes for a nice change.
Rampaul comes from the small Trinidad village of Preysal that has already produced two other Test players in Inshan Ali and Rangy Nanan.
As the youngest of five children, Rampaul didn’t have too many family privileges but, since 15, has developed a well-built athletic frame and is growing in inches.
‘‘Fast bowling is not something I wanted to do at first’’, he said. ‘‘I thought of myself as a batsman. I felt that fast bowling meant developing a physique and a lot of hard work and you know how it is, until we get inspired, we pretend to be better at batting.’’
He has an infectious grin and charm which hides the steel and mental toughness for one so young, yet he created much interest in Zimbabwe and South Africa when he first arrived in Southern Africa back in late October.
‘‘I have picked up a lot more pace on this tour and learnt just how tough fast bowling can be in such conditions as we have experienced in the last two limited overs matches on this tour’’, he said today.
‘‘They were the sort of surfaces where there was plenty of runs and you soon got to know about it if you put the ball in the wrong area. The runs would pile up and it would make me think about how to beat the edge of the bat. Things like that, not at all easy in such conditions. But I have had help and advice and learnt from legends like Bishop and Croft.
‘‘Sure, I was disappointed in not playing in a Test on this tour. It was all about learning how to bowl so I know that I need to be patient. There is the series against England still to come.’’
Mention Courtney Walsh and his eyes light up as the man who inspired him to become a fast bowler but it was Sir Vivian Richards, selection panel convenor, who had the last word when he said that Rampaul’s ‘‘velocity and short ball and the way he worked over experienced Test players has been impressive’’.
Richards, Gordon Greenidge another selector and Brian Lara all feel that Rampaul is a genuine fast bowler in the old West Indian mould. He has been selected to play in the World Youth Cup in Bangladesh but may be called on by the senior selectors for a tougher challenge.
Share
