Left-arm spinner Raj Nannan says that he is thrilled over his selection to represent the Demerara senior team ahead of this week’s Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) 50-overs-a-side Inter-County competition and is bent on producing match-winning performances for his side.
“This year I’m hungry for success, I want put my best foot forward and dominate the tournament”, said the 20 year-old spinner who spoke with Stabroek Sports yesterday during an exclusive interview prior to Thursday’s first round start of the 2014 competition.
The Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) player who represented Guyana at the Under-15 level said that he is “Looking forward to a Guyana call up to the limited overs side,” if he performs well enough in the Inter-County competition adding that he will be doing his best to ensure that happens.
Speaking about his call up to the senior team and his hopes of making his debut, Nannan said: “It shows that hard work pays off because I’ve been working hard over the years in order to play for the Demerara senior team and when I heard that there was no Rest XI team this year I knew I had to pull my weight to get into the Demerara side.”
Nannan, who spent some time in Trinidad & Tobago playing in their domestic league earlier this year with the Comets, finished with 37 wickets in the two-day leg of the tournament and lauded Trinidadian teammates Steven Katwaroo and Imran Khan for working along with him in both departments which he said helped to vastly improve his game.
“Katwaroo and Khan helped me during the season in Trinidad. They taught me to be patient when bowling and to also be patient when batting long, so patience was the key word for me.”
According to the tall, orthodox bowler, the Trinidad season was so competitive it mirrors that of the local Inter-County tournament which he said helped him to be more focused and work harder on his game, especially his batting which resulted in him being rewarded with a few decent scores and a best of 77 against another top Trinidadian club, Esmeralda.
When asked if he is looking forward to playing a significant part for his team with bat and ball, Nannan confidently replied: “Yes! I’m looking to contribute with the bat if I need to bat long I will, if I need to try and get quick runs and find the boundary I‘m willing to adjust to any situation.”
Nannan pointed out that he is willing to soak up as much as he can from his senior partners and is confident of his county doing well in this year’s tournament.
“It’s always nice playing with senior players especially the big names like (Chris) Barnwell and (Steven) Jacobs. Playing along with them helps you to improve your game tremendously while I also think Demerara has a good chance to win the competition. We just need to stick to basics.”
