– duo has boyhood dream to play for Windies together
Bridgetown, Barbados – Veerasammy Permaul is a big fan of Devendra Bishoo. Permaul has watched his lifelong friend’s elevation to the West Indies team and is thrilled to see the leg-spinner’s excellent performances on the international stage.
Now, the soft-spoken Permaul is working overtime to join the amiable Bishoo in the Windies line-up. Permaul, the small left-arm spinner, is a member of the Sagicor High Performance Centre and he recently started his second three-month stint at the base at the Cave Hill Campus of the University of the West Indies.
"I am very close to Bishoo. We play a lot of our cricket together and we train together. We play for the same club, Albion, and play together in the Guyana team. We talk a lot about cricket and we learn a lot from each other," Permaul revealed during an exclusive interview with WindiesCricket.com.
"I am very happy to see what he is doing in the West Indies team. He is a very hard worker and now that he is doing so many good things it has given me extra encouragement," said Permaul, who like Bishoo hails from Berbice in Guyana.
"From very young, we talked about playing together in the West Indies team. It is our dream to play together at the highest level. It is now up to me to put in the extra work and work my way up the ladder and get into the (West Indies) team. We bowl well together in the Guyana team and we enjoy bowling with each other."
At age 21, Permaul is already a fixture in the Guyana senior team. He has played at the First Class level for four years and in that time has taken 101 wickets at an average of 25.86 per wicket in 32 matches.
Earlier this year he was Guyana’s best bowler in the WICB Regional 4 Day Tournament with 25 wickets at 18.88 each in six matches. The former West Indies Under 19 player is now back at the Sagicor HPC and he has outlined his course. His main emphasis is on improving his accuracy and working on more variations.
"I’m back here and I’m looking to continue from where I left off last year. I enjoy every moment of it. Right now I’m doing a lot of ‘spot’ bowling to get my accuracy right and trying different variations. As a spinner you have to be prepared to bowl long spells, you have to look to assess the batsmen and finds ways to expose their weak areas," he said.
"I was happy with way I bowled in the 4 Day Tournament earlier this year. I was accurate and I was able to ‘work out’ the batsmen. Now the job is to build on that and try to get stronger as a bowler. I just need to continue working hard because nothing comes without hard work. That is what the coaches tell us here and we all know that is what will get us to the top. I have clear goals and I know what I have to do to achieve my goals."