GUYANA and West Indies right-arm leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo was yesterday presented with a monetary reward and a trophy from Shew’s General Store of Leopold Street, following his successful limited overs debut in the just concluded ICC World Cup for the West Indies.
At a simple presentation ceremony held at the Everest Cricket Club ground, the 25-year-old Bishoo, who was selected to replace the injured Dwayne Bravo, received $30 000 and a trophy, with the monetary reward representing the four wickets he took in the two matches.
According to managing director of Shew’s General Store, Manniram ‘Packer’ Shew, who is a popular sports enthusiast, the move to reward Bishoo was done in keeping with a tradition he started years ago at the national Under-19 level, where players were randomly selected and given rewards.
“First of all, let me wish Devendra all the best in his cricketing career. I also hope he gets selected for the Pakistan tour of the West Indies later this month and at the same time, maintain his place in the team, irrespective of which form of the game is being played.
“We have been making such gestures years ago, wherein we would randomly select a national player at the Under-19 level and make the donations to them. Players such as West Indies middle-order batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan, Azeemul Haniff and Shawn Grant just to name a few, have all been given rewards,” said Shew.
Shew donated $5 000 each for the four wickets Bishoo took in the two matches, while his cousin Lakechandra ‘Vishnu’ Ramgobin, a New York-based Guyanese and an ardent cricket fan, joined in offering his kudos to the wily leg-spinner, by donating $10 000.
In an invited comment, the soft-spoken Bishoo who took 3-34 against England in his debut match and followed it with 1-48 against India, thanked the donors for their kind gesture and vowed to continue working hard to not only maintain a place in the West Indies team for limited overs matches, but also Test matches as well.
“From the depths of my heart, I would like to say thanks for this donation. The experience gained from the World Cup was fantastic and certainly any player who would have had such an experience as mine would ensure they continue having same.
The senior guys such as Sarwan, Shiv Chanderpaul and Chris Gayle among others helped me get over the nervous stage of my debut match,” said Bishoo.
He continued, “Playing in the World Cup is just part of my dream and with my dad always telling me he wishes for me to play for the West Indies, that was his dream being made a reality, but my aim is to go on and make the Test side for the Pakistan tour later this month and that in itself would be my entire dream coming through, so I am working hard towards gaining the selectors’ nod for the tour.”
Bishoo leaves Guyana sometime this weekend for Barbados where he will be involved in a preparatory camp with the regional side which was named.