As he called time on his professional career yesterday morning at his alma mater Stella Maris Primary School, former West Indies captain Ramnaresh Sarwan says his legacy is to be remembered as a team player since his goal was always to win.
Ramnaresh Sarwan
“My goal was always to win, if we were in a position that seem impossible I felt that once I was at the crease it was possible still. All I want to be remembered for is a team person. The other stuff that people say, or wanting to judge me that will always happen, it will forever happen. With me, with other players but for me to leave a mark as a team person that’s my sole concern. I’ve never seen myself as a selfish person and I hate selfish people…..I do hope that I have leave that impact with the players I’ve played with for both Guyana and the Regional team,” said Sarwan when questioned on what mark he would have left on the game.
Sarwan played 21 years of professional cricket while he spent 13 years occupied on the international arena. During his international career he rated his high points as his first innings half century on debut against Pakistan, his 105 against Australia to help West Indies record the highest successful run chase in Test history and his personal best of 291 against England in 2009.
Indeed his debut knock was remarkable facing legendary Pakistani bowlers like Waqar Younis, Wasim Akram, Saqlin Mushtaq and Mushtaq Ahmed at 19 years of age. His knock against Australia to date remains fresh in cricket fanatics’ memories as West Indies clinched to victory from the jaws of defeat in an unexpected occasion. The West Indies run chase of 418 remains the recored for the highest successful run chase in Test cricket. His personal best knock was against England in a year where he himself said he was at his best due to his level of maturity.
However, there were not always bright days for Sarwan who hails from Wakenaam as he revealed his lowest points were his first tour of Australia where he was ‘baptized’ and other issues that he refused to talk about due to the occasion.
When questioned if satisfied with his contribution to Guyana and West Indies Cricket, Sarwan said to the abrupt end to his West Indies career he thinks he had more cricket left in him but unfortunately things happen and you have to move on. In terms of Guyana he said he thinks he has a lot to offer, especially to the younger players but that is not without having knowledge about the challenges in Guyana’s cricket.
The 36 year old said he would not rule out getting involved in administrative duties in relation to the game since it is where his heart lies, but he is only going to participate in something that he could succeed in.
In terms of his batting partnerships with West Indies’ greats, Brian Lara and Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Sarwan said the former would socialize more and help you to analyze the game in the moment while the latter was more conservative, but both were supportive during his career.
In total Sarwan scored 15 tons, with five coming against England, Four against South Africa, two each against Australia and Bangladesh and one each against India and Sri Lanka. Though he never favoured playing against a specific team he said his toughest challenges were against away against Australia and Sri Lanka. Those are indeed tough challenges since it is difficult to beat Australia at home and even worse against Sri Lanka as the Australians could attest from their recent tour there.
Australia’s pacer Glenn McGrath and Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitaran are the most two difficult bowlers to bat because the former makes you think you are never in and could get out at any time while the latter had lots of variation and he spins the ball, he was very challenging.
Sarwan played 87 Test matches for the West Indies between May 2000 and June 2011. He scored 5,842 runs with 15 centuries, a highest score of 291 against England and an average of 40.1
He made his ODI debut in July 2000 against England and played a total of 181 matches to score 5,804 runs at an Ave of 42.60 with five hundreds.
He played 220 First-Class matches and made 33 centuries at an Average of 38.52 and holds the record for the youngest West Indian player to play First-Class Cricket which he did at 15 years-old, playing for Guyana against Barbados at the Albion Community Centre ground in Berbice.
Sarwan finished as Guyana’s third highest run scorer in Test cricket behind Rohan Kanhai who also scored 15 centuries and Clive Lloyd, who scored 19 centuries. Meanwhile he finished eleventh on the West Indies all-time list in terms of runs and centuries.
