By Avenash Ramzan
Fresh off a relatively solid season with bat and ball for the Guyana Amazon Warriors in Hero CPL 2019, Guyanese Chandrapaul Hemraj found himself having to make a tough choice as to his next engagement on the field.
Upon conclusion of the League, Hemraj was picked up by the Deccan Gladiators for the Abu Dhabi T10, while being a vital component of the Guyana Jaguars line-up for the impending Colonial Medical Insurance Super50 tournament.
Clearly, the left-handed opener and left-arm spinner was in demand. The problem however, was the two events clashing, leaving Hemraj to make a toss-up between taking the lengthy flight to the United Arab Emirates or the brief fly over to Trinidad.
The Abu Dhabi T10 is from November 14-24 and the Super50 from November 6 to December 1.
After backroom discussions with the concerned parties, Hemraj opted for the latter, making the point of creating a pathway back to West Indies selection and add to his six ODIs.
“My dream is always playing for the West Indies. I think the Super50 is a better opportunity for me to use to get back into the team,” Hemraj, 26, reasoned.
“I had a pretty good CPL, so hopefully some good performances in the Super50 would increase my chances. I want to thank the Deccan Gladiators for picking me up in the draft; hopefully I could feature in the team in the future.”
In the just concluded CPL, Hemraj was the Warriors’ third leading runscorer with 299 runs in 12 innings, striking at 121, and forming a formidable opening partnership with Brandon King, the League’s leading runscorer.
After bowling Tridents’ opener Alex Hales first ball at Providence, Hemraj was handed more opportunities with the ball and he finished with five wickets, including a career-best 3-15 against Trinbago Knight Riders. He had an economy rate of 6.85.
