National skipper and former West Indies left arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul has big plans for his future which he says hinges on putting on a match-winning performance to help his team to victory in the upcoming Sri Lanka tour of the Caribbean.
“My aim is to go out there and put in good performances for myself and team with both bat and ball when the tour begins,” he said in an exclusive interview with Stabroek Sport yesterday.
The 23-year-old Berbician made his first class debut for Guyana in the 2006/07 Carib Beer Series against the Windward Islands where he picked up four wickets.
Two years later with a haul of 32 wickets at an average of 23.93 in his first-class aggregate, he ended his 2011-12 season with overall statistics of 37 wickets at an average of 22.05. This led to his selection for the West Indies senior team in the 2012 tour of Bangladesh where he made his debut in the First Test at Dhaka picking up four wickets for his team.
In the recently concluded 2013 Regional tournament, Permaul ended with a haul of 30 wickets from five matches and 10 innings with an average of 17.93. He captured his best bowling figures of 5 for 73 against the Leeward Islands.
When questioned about his form and fitness, the left arm spinner declared that he was “very fit at the moment.”
“I’m heading into the tour with no injuries, also I work out and train every day, my form is also good I have been picking up a lot of wickets recently so that a good feeling for me,” he said.
Permaul has also demonstrated his skills with the bat and has shown that he is capable of getting runs down the order in recent times. “My batting is clicking, that is another aspect of my game that I have been working on recently and I think I have some runs to offer down the order for my team,” he said.
His goals for the future are clear: “I plan to go out there and take wickets and score runs if necessary so I can be considered for a West Indies recall for the upcoming triangular series.”
“I am not really looking too far ahead I just want to take it one step at a time, my main desire is to represent my country in the senior West Indies team in the four-day or the ODIs,” he added.
Permaul along with fellow Guyanese Narsingh Deonarine, Leon Johnson and Assad Fudadin wing out tomorrow ahead of their Sri Lankan encounter which includes two Tests, three ODIs and two T20s starting June 5 at Warner Park in St. Kitts.
