…says Scoring a century against WI wasn’t the dream

By Sean Devers

ON Father’s Day in Zimbabwe, Guyanese Gajanand Singh, completed an unbeaten maiden ODI ton against the West Indies for his adopted Country (USA) in a losing cause in the opening game of the ICC World Cup Qualifiers.

The 35-year-old, from East Canje in Berbice, reached the boundary eight times and cleared it twice in a magnificent 101 from 109 balls to join Shimron Hetmyer (5) as the only two players from the Young Warriors Club to score centuries in ODI Cricket.

Singh shared in partnerships of 42 with former Barbados batter Aaron Jones, 59 with Shayan Jahangir and an unfinished 76 with Nosthush Kenjige who contributed 34 not-out as the USA reached 258-7.

Singh, who represented West Indies at the 2006 ICC U-19 World Cup and also played 10 first class matches for Guyana, gave West Indies a scare as USA fell 39 short of the 297 target.
Four West Indian batters reached 50 but none passed 62 which was made by Johnson Charles.

The left-handed Singh hooked the first ball of the penultimate over from Alzarri Joseph for six while another boundary in the over took him to 97 before he drove Roston Chase to long-on for a single in the last over to reach his ton.

“Scoring an ODI century against WI wasn’t the dream, but I am here now and I won’t change anything.

I dedicate this hundred to my father (Sahadeo Singh known as Uncle Bush in the Village of Cumberland). I was very emotional since he passed away when I made my ODI debut two years ago. It meant a lot to me” revealed Singh, who made his ODI debut against P.N.G on September 06, 2021.

The century was also a perfect Father’s Day gift for Singh, who is married to Natalie Singh and has a 10-year-old daughter, Gabriella.

“Planning for this game and staying patient and getting the basics right… in the middle overs working hard and running singles… were the main reasons I scored this hundred. It is always nice to do well with the bat but it would have been better if we had won the game,” explained Singh who has five fifties and a ton from 27 ODIs at a decent average of 37.95.

Singh said that the pitch had a bit in it for both batter and bowler and described the ground which made its international debut, as a wonderful venue adding that he was happy to be the first batter to score a century there.

“I think we played well in patches, and can take a lot of positives from that game. We bowled well up-front and it was good to bowl them out below 300.

But I think we gave away too many runs in the last few overs and dropped too many catches. They have many big hitters and dropping them hurt us in the end but I’m sure we will win games here,” said Singh who is very happy with social media support he has gotten from those in Guyana including posts from the GCB and the Berbice Cricket Board.

When asked what type of bowling he prefers facing, Singh, who lives in the Bronx in New York, informed that conditions determined how he bat spin or pace.

“In different conditions the preference changes I think,” concluded Singh who explained that his favourite cricketer is Brian Charles Lara because of his pure class and control he has when he’s at the crease.

Singh, who began his cricket career at the Young Warriors ground which is across a Street from where he grew-up in Guyana, is hoping to score heavily in the remaining games in the qualifiers in Zimbabwe.