National left-hand batsman Vishaul Singh says his intention for the remainder of the 2014 West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) four-day tournament is to build on his current form while endeavoring to cement his place in the Guyana middle-order.
“Cheesy”, as he commonly referred to spoke with Stabroek Sports prior to Guyana’s second round match against Barbados last Thursday which they eventually lost by 136 runs on the third day.
The Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) player indicated that his main priority is to cement his current place in the national makeup by contributing heavily with the bat.
Speaking about his second innings knock against Jamaica in the first round where he was the top scorer with a defiant 73, the 25-year-old said that the innings required patience and application. He confirmed that his sights for the upcoming games are locked on “building on that first performance after being in some good form.”
Singh credits his current form to having a successful inter-county stint as Captain of the President’s XI team.
Speaking indepth about his second innings knock which he patiently grafted to ensure his team had something to play for on the final day, Singh said:“Well it was the second innings and we were behind the game having made a below par first innings score and to get something out of the match would have taken something special form someone.”
He admitted that the second-wicket stand of 78 batting with opener Assad Fudadin which was the match’s highest partnership was also the foundation for their team’s unsuccessful but daring fight back which in the end he noted was “Not good enough.”
A weakened Guyana went into the tournament missing skipper Leon Johnson who was forced to miss the game due to a Grade 2 tear in his knee which he sustained during a practice game then the veteran pair of Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan were confirmed injured on the morning of the first match against Jamaica, while pacer Ronsford Beaton was advised by doctors to rest after he picked up muscle strain during the first game.
These blows to the batting and bowling units led Singh to acknowledge that his team will have to depend on its younger players to bring them glory until they are able to take the field as a full strength unit. “We have a pretty young team, but I think we have capable replacements in Chanderpaul (Tagenarine) who had a very good Youth World Cup along with Hemraj (Chandrapaul) but we will still look to our other senior players to contribute,” he explained.
Singh was unfortunately run out in the second match against Barbados but the batsman, who was overflowing with confidence prior to the match, stated his desire to play a major role if given a chance for the rest of the competition.
Apart from the desire to supplement his current batting form with more runs, he explained that having a good start is essential but capitalizing and producing runs will be the key to ensuring that he commands a regular if not permanent place in the middle-order.
