Persaud happy to be part of Guyana Jaguars future core
Guyana Jaguars batsman Akshaya Persaud wants to make the most of his new season with the 5-time champs.
Guyana Jaguars batsman Akshaya Persaud wants to make the most of his new season with the 5-time champs.

… says time-off great for reflection, healing

By Clifton Ross

GUYANA Jaguars batsman Akshaya Persaud is geared towards making the most of his upcoming season with the 5-time 4-Day champions, adding that it was good to be apart of the future nexus of the franchise.

Persaud, one of Guyana’s future batting stars, given his brief yet decent records at the national level; mainly in Regional 50-Over cricket, earned another chance to up his game at the 4-day level after being among the recently contracted 15 players for the 2020-21 season.

With 2 first class matches under his belt, Persaud has used the opportunities at the senior level to make better of his limited-overs career, racking up a pair of 50s while playing a key role in the Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC) team during last year’s Super50.

Speaking on his new contract and being able to play for his country while looking to improve his 4-Day career, the left-hander said he was more than joyful looking towards the future.

“Firstly I would like to thank God for giving me another opportunity in my career. It means a lot to me because It’s another step in my career moving forward,” said Persaud.

Being indoors due to the pandemic has left a number of cricketers itching for some action and Persaud, being no different from the rest, explained that he was making the most of the lockdown as he awaits the silver lining.

“It’s something that we’re not accustomed to and also we don’t have control over. As a team, we would spend most of the time together training and practising. Due to the virus, it has forced us to train from home. Our trainer Barry has been doing a fine job thus far with the programme that we are currently using,” the batsman explained.

A product of Guyana Jaguars Cricket Academy and Guyana Amazon Warriors youth brigade a few season ago, Persaud has been one of the prolific scorers domestically in the Jaguars League over the years, most notably in the longest format.

Although his stats regionally do no justice to his talent and hard work, coupled with the limited chances at that level, the youngster admitted that another positive being away from cricket was the time to reflect on one’s game.

“Also, this break away from the game gives me the opportunity to reflect on my game, to work on the areas that needed some extra attention and to plan ahead for the upcoming season. The rest is very important because at times you need a break away from the game to analyse and reflect on your personal game,” he said.

The 2020-21 season has a shroud of uncertainty lingering over it due to the pandemic, with the 2020 Hero CPL set for August also being under watch.

Guyana will be playing key roles in the CPL this year with a number of Jaguars players set to take part – a good kick-start to the West Indies Regional season which usually gets underway in October.

Looking at the odds and the possibility of the season being played once restrictions are lifted, Persaud believed that his team will benefit from the time off, adding that it was good to see more young players being entrusted with the future of the Jaguars franchise.

“From a team’s perspective the break allowed us to reflect on our weak points from the last season and to plan ahead for the new season. Looking at the players who were given contracts, it’s a mix of youth and experience and our younger guys can feed off the senior players’ experience and work towards winning another title for the Jaguars,” Persaud ended.

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