Guyana and West Indies Under-19 spinner Gudakesh Motie-Kanhai said yesterday that he was optimistic about successfully utilising the foreign conditions in Bangladesh as the Asian side prepares to host the return U19 series against the West Indies in December.
Stabroek Sport sat down with the left-arm orthodox spin bowler yesterday during an exclusive interview which touched on the bowler’s recent performances along with his upcoming plans.
In his fledgling career Motie-Kanhai has been racking up a number of chart topping performances.
He was the leading wicket-taker for the Guyana U19 team in 2012 as well as the 2013 Regional U19 three-day tournament where he bagged an impressive 27 wickets at an average of 15.22.
He also had best figures of 7 for 31.
The 18-year-old said that following his exceptional performance with the ball in the Regional matches he was almost certain that he would be selected.
“After bowling well in the three-day format of the Regional tournament, I knew I would have been selected,” he declared.
And he was right! But there was also a bonus.
Motie-Kanhai was selected to attend a three-week spin bowling camp held in the Caribbean facilitated by Pakistan spin stalwart, Saqlain Mushtaq.
“It was a good experience and I learnt a lot,” he recalled. “He spoke to me about my bowling and spoke to me about completing my action along with my follow through.”
Motie-Kanhai said that during this camp he learnt much about the craft of spin bowling, most of which he put into practice after returning to Guyana for the West Indies/Bangladesh U19 encounter.
“Motie”, as he is commonly called, said that his proudest moment of the series came in the first match where he picked up 1 for 16 off his 10 overs. The economical, accurate and most times consistent spinner confessed that despite having a good tournament with the ball he wanted “to take more wickets.”
Speaking from a batting perspective Motie-Kamhai, who showed he was no rabbit with the bat after top-scoring with a vital 38 against the tourists in the third ODI played at the Everest Sports club ground, said that he will be focusing more on his batting.
“I want to focus more on my batting and stick around the crease, rotate the strike and give the other batsman the strike,” he says.
The West Indies U19s lost the seven match series to Bangladesh 3 -4, and Motie-Kanhai said that he is hoping that the team gets their revenge in the return series.
He strongly believes that his bowling will be effective on the overseas surfaces and says he has been receiving advice and support from fellow Albion teammates Veerasammy Permaul and Devendra Bishoo.
Permaul, who was recently recalled to the West India side for the upcoming series against India, has been a great role model according to the young spinner, who also praised Bishoo, a former Test bowler and a left-arm spinner in his own right for working along with him as he grows from strength to strength.
Following the West Indies/Bangladesh series, youth teams from around the World will focus on the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) U19 Cricket World Cup in Dubai next year and Motie-Kanhai declared that his main focus now is to maintain his fitness and prepare for the tour which he hopes will be a successful outing for him.
