The West Indies team has roped in the leg spinner, Devendra Bishoo, in place of their premium all-rounder Dwayne Bravo, who was ruled out of the 2011 ICC World Cup due to an injury.
The left-handed leg-break bowler has been approved by the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) technical committee and will arrive in the Bangladesh capital, Dhaka, on the 2nd of March. The Windies have called up Bishoo to strengthen their slow bowling attack on the spin-friendly Subcontinent tracks, ahead of their match against Bangladesh, on the 4th of March, 2011.
The services of
Bishoo were required, after Bravo injured his left knee in their opening match against the South Africa. Bravo had to be carried off the field by his team-mates after he picked up the injury while trying to field the ball off his own bowling. He will at least require four weeks to recover and hence needed to be substituted by another player. The replacement has come in the form of a leg spinner from Guyana, Bishoo.Bishoo has become the third replacement in the West Indies World Cup squad. Earlier, the West Indies team had to replace Adrian Barath and Carlton Baugh with Kirk Edwards and Devon Thomas, after the former two were declared unfit because of hamstring problems.
Bishoo is expected to make his debut for the West Indies in their third match of the tournament against the hosts Bangladesh. The 25-year-old made his first class debut in 2008 and has shown immense potential in the 21 matches he has played so far.
He won the man of the series award in the Caribbean Twenty20 in 2010. His attacking bowling style got him 10 wickets in just 4 games with an impeccable average of 8.20.
However, filling Bravo’s shoes will not be an easy task for the 25-year-old, especially considering Bravo’s ever growing significance in the struggling West Indian team.
The team has so far played two matches. They lost the first one against the Proteas but went on to win the next match against the minnows Netherlands rather emphatically. The West Indies need to win their next match to stay in contention for the quarterfinals.
