Persaud eager to cement spot as another season looms

2018/19 CWI Regional 4-Day Championships…

By Clifton Ross

Guyana Jaguars batsman Akshaya Persaud is rearing to solidify his place in the 4-Day team, following his selection and yet another chance to build his career, with the 2018-19 Cricket West Indies (CWI) Regional 4-Day Championships bowling off in a few days.

Guyana Jaguars batsman Akshaya Persaud plays one under the eyes during nets

This season gets underway from December 6, and the 4-time defending champs will wing out on Monday morning as they commence their defence campaign against the Windward IslandsVolcanoes at the Darren Sammy National Stadium in St Lucia, before returning home to play their first of five matches at Providence, commencing in January 2019.
Ahead of his departure, Persaud told <<Guyana Times Sport>> on Saturday that he was pleased with his selection, which allows him to concentrate further on building his career in the longest format. “For me personally, it was a good opportunity, because a lot of players were looking to get scores. So I’m just happy to be selected, and now I just want to score runs and cement a spot in the team”, the batsman said.
The ex-student of the Saraswati Vidy Niketan School made his 4-Day debut last season playing just two matches, His highest score of 21 against the Trinidad & Tobago Red Force in the final round was played at Providence.
Comparing last season to now, Persaud said he was playing a lot more matches while constantly working on his technique.
“I’ve been playing more cricket compared to last year, and the Hero CPL Camp helped me a lot because of the calibre of players in the Guyana Amazon Warriors team. I learnt from them, I was asking questions; and then I had a few good games playing domestic cricket, and I have a few good scores, so I have some confidence heading into the tournament”, Persaud stated.
Despite not scoring as he would have liked during the recently concluded Jaguars’ two 3-day practice games, the last of which ended on Friday, the 21-year-old has still credited the two matches for putting him back into ‘Test’ mode.
“The 3-Day games were important because I got back accustomed to the longer format. It was also important for getting the body back moving, so I think the matches were good for all of us,” he said.
Persaud, debutant Tevin Imlach, young opener Tagenarine Chanderpaul and Romario Shepherd are the core of the Jaguars’ blooming bunch, all of whom have much to prove should they get the chance this season. Persaud, looking ahead, pointed out that his main goals this season are areas of fundamentals within the game, as he plans to focus on concentration and maturity.
“As a batsman, I just want to spend time out in the middle, occupy the crease, put away the bad balls, and form good partnerships with my teammates,” he said.
The left-hander will be entering a big fold as Guyana seek to lift the title for a record 5 consecutive times; and although still young, he says he is without butterflies in the stomach, and believes that his team has what it takes to achieve such a feat.
“I have no nerves. It’s 4-day cricket, so we just have to take it session by session, day by day and match by match, because we still have to play good cricket to win. But we have to just go out there and play good cricket, and I think we can successfully defend our title,” he ended.
The champs, meanwhile, depart early on Monday morning for St Lucia, as they get themselves acclimatised and settled ahead of their clash with the Volcanoes, which bowl off Thursday.