Devendra Bishoo, the West Indies leg-spinner, fell by the wayside after a dream start to his international career in 2011. He is now back in the West Indies side, eager to make up for lost time. Nishad Pai Vaidya caught up with Bishoo on the sidelines of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) 2015 and spoke to him about his revival, bowling with Sunil Narine, Guyana Amazon Warriors etc.
Devendra Bishoo was living the dream in 2011. The leg-spinner from Guyana burst onto the international scene during the World Cup in India and impressed with his conventional approach. About two months down the line, he donned the white flannels for the West Indies and found consistent success in his early appearances, promising to seal his spot as a spinner. Then came the ultimate honour for a rookie — the ICC Emerging Player of the Year Award. Any young cricketer would have envied Bishoo! But, life can be tough on you as a slippery slope may soon follow a high.
The revivial
Bishoo’s career saw an inexplicable slump as he struggled to make a mark in Bangladesh and India. By May 2012, he found himself out of the side. “The most important thing was that I went back and worked hard. It is tough and never easy when you are dropped. I never gave up and I knew that I would make a comeback to the West Indies team,” says Bishoo as he looks back at the toughest phase of his career. Three years down the line, not only has he made a comeback to the West Indies Test team but has also made an impact — particularly with the ball that dismissed Brad Haddin at Dominica in the recent first Test, touted as the ‘Ball of the century’ by many cricket fans.
Looking back at the delivery, Bishoo says, “Two balls before that, I went for six. The wicket was slow and I tried to pitch it outside leg-stump and it spun. I enjoyed bowling that. When people say ‘Ball of the century,’ it only inspires and motivates me.” What is astonishing is that Shane Warne’s dream delivery to Mike Gatting exactly 22 years ago i.e. June 4, 1993. Talk about déjà vu!
From being the forgotten cricketer, Bishoo is back in the limelight thanks to that delivery. Not many know that he took six for 80 in that spell against Australia, but ask fans about the Haddin dismissal and they will tell you all about it. Bishoo may have held on to all hope in those tough years, yearning to relive the good days. Saqlain Mushtaq joined him in his quest as he conducted a spin camp in the Caribbean in 2013. “The whole thing [comeback and improvement] started during Saqlain’s spin camp two years ago. My action changed as I was falling earlier. I got more control over my line and length. That camp helped me to push forward. When I was at the spin camp, he [Saqlain] was getting it in my head that I had to make a comeback. He showed me a few things and started work on me,” Bishoo says. The then West Indies coach, Otis Gibson had said that the spin-camp was for Bishoo’s revival. How right was he! Bishoo fought his way through domestic cricket, making a comeback during the recent Test series against England.
Playing the CPL
Today, Bishoo is a member of the Guyana Amazon Warriors in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), sharing the dressing room with Sunil Narine, whose emergence had kept the leggie out of the West Indies setup. Both have contrasting styles. While Bishoo is a conventional leg-spinner, Narine has a bag full of unconventional tricks. “Sunil is a great guy. We talk about bowling and how to get a batsman out. We enjoy being in each other’s company,” Bishoo says, “You have to be smart in T20 cricket. It isn’t only about bowling fast or getting spin, but you have to be smart.”
So far, Guyana have lost both their games at the CPL 2015 and are trying to recover soon. Bishoo believes the presence of the international stars helps and that the team morale is good, “We have Mohammad Hafeez, Brad Hodge and Tillakaratne Dilshan. It is amazing to be around them as those guys have played international cricket for years. They are professionals. Though things haven’t started well for us this year, everybody feel amazing and the team morale is good.”
Last year, Guyana came agonisingly close to winning the title, only to see rain deny them a chance. “It is already gone and you can’t do anything about it. It is not going to be easy this time as all teams are equally strong,” Bishoo says as he believes Guyana are up for it and ready to make a charge in the coming games.
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 "Devendra Bishoo")
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