St George’s, Grenada: West Indies pacer Kemar Roach says that his career best six wicket haul was nothing short of magical, especially coming in only his second Test match.
“It is a magical moment , taking six wickets in my second Test match is a dream come through,” Roach told reporters at the end of the second day’s play of the Second and Final Digicel Test against Bangladesh at the Grenada National Stadium.
Roach took 6 for 48 from 23.5 overs to run through the Bangladesh lower order as they fell for 232 in response to the Windies 237. Roach’s final spell, during which he mopped up the tailenders, read 4.5-3-2-3.
Asked about his motivation for bowling with such impressive and sometimes frightening pace, Roach said he is passionate about West Indies cricket and has been longing for an opportunity to showcase his skills on a larger stage.
“I want to do well in front the crowd and on television, I want to show my talent so I was fired up,” said the 21 year old Barbadian right arm pacer.
“I think this is very good for my career. I have seen offers from the IPL (Indian Premier League) but (the public wasn’t) seeing me, I think they are seeing me now on a world stage and I think I now have a good chance of progressing,” said Roach who made his debut in the First Digicel Test in St Vincent after the originally selected players took industrial action.
Despite his relatively short stature Roach bowled with venomous pace which made the Bangladeshi batsmen acutely uncomfortable and when asked how he generates his pace he said it was a combination of rhythm and strength.
“They (Bangladesh batsmen) weren’t handling the short bowling too well. We had a meeting with the coach (John Dyson) and the captain (Floyd Reifer) and we tried to get a few more short balls to the body and it worked for us today,” Roach revealed.
And he said that he holds former West Indies fast bowlers Rev Wes Hall, Malcolm Marshall and Corey Collymore as role models while declaring that one of his goals is to become the bowler to reach 100 Test wickets fastest.
