Former West Indies captain Denesh Ramdin wasn’t totally blindsided by the news of his removal as skipper of the regional Test squad.
And he is also looking on the bright side of things and is focused now on producing with the bat on what he expects will be a tough tour of Sri Lanka next month.
The West Indies Cricket Board announced on Friday that Jason Holder will take over as captain of the Test team from Ramdin.
“I was a little disappointed but I looked back at it and I am really happy at this point in my life and I am not going to let anything stress me out. I have a fantastic young boy coming up and everything is for him and my wife so I think I am in a good place right now,” said Ramdin.
“Asked if he was surprised by the decision to remove him as captain or was the move something he expected, Ramdin said: “A bit of both but having said that, they had called and said my batting has been a problem so they have relieved me of that pressure of captaincy, so hopefully I can produce a lot more runs now and perform better behind the stumps.”
“When I look back at it in addition to being captain, there were a lot of times I went in to bat with not a lot of runs on the board and a lot of wickets falling and plus sometimes after keeping for a day and a half and then having to come in and bat after an hour. It is really tough but I guess I will have a lot more time to relax more and to focus more on my side of things,” he explained.
Speaking about the upcoming tour, Ramdin said he was relaxed and looking forward to it.
Although the 15-man West Indies squad includes two other wicketkeepers in Shane Dowrich and Shai Hope, Ramdin said he does not feel that he is under pressure.
“I don’t think there is any pressure in terms of my keeping at the moment. It is just for me to continue doing what I have been doing and get my averages up because I have nothing to worry about,” he said.
“I have been doing some technical work in the nets. I know Sri Lanka is going to be a tough place to score runs with a lot of balls spinning and turning and hopefully I can get a good start and cash in once I get a start,” he added.
He also feels the West Indies can compete with the Sri Lankans but insisted that it will be a challenging tour.
“I think it is going to be tough. We have a young team and they have a young team as well but they will have the upper hand at home but I think the players look at Jason (Holder) as a leader and hopefully he can continue to do well for himself and the team and we can move forward,” Ramdin added.
He said he and the other senior players in Marlon Samuels and Darren Bravo will be lending their experience to the new skipper.
“He (Holder) has handled himself quite nicely in the One-Day series and in the World Cup, so hopefully he can take that over to the Test team. He is a very good guy to work with. He will just have to learn from his experience and the senior guys around him will have to guide him,” Ramdin added.
