Last year Ramnaresh Sarwan was a litigant of West Indies cricket. Today he is again a representative of the region, having been recalled to the limited overs team for the tour of Australia.
Sarwan’s return follows an 18-month absence from the team, during which he claimed to have been hurt “mentally and emotionally” by national team’s coaching regime.
In September it was revealed that Sarwan had won $161,000 in damages from the WICB after his fitness was publicly denigrated by the board when they dropped him from the list of centrally contracted players in 2010.
The return of Sarwan to the national team had appeared unlikely last year, when he turned out for Leicestershire rather than West Indies during their tour of England early in the northern summer. At the time Sarwan spoke of the low ebb he had reached prior to being dropped, and the scant support he felt he had received.
“The coach said some negative stuff that hurt me mentally and emotionally,” Sarwan told BBC Sport in May last year. “Mentally I was broken down, not from the stress of playing, it’s just certain individuals have drained me mentally. It took a toll on my confidence and the way I play. Everything went away.
“I’m away from all those problems, my mind is at ease and I have had nothing to worry about, no coach to say any negative things. At one point I didn’t know which was my back foot and which was my front foot. Now I’m much better, more precise with my movements, everything crystal clear in my head.
“I never spoke about this because I was caught up in a shell and I used to not come out of my house for up to three days. My dad was the one to inspire me to start back playing.”
Sarwan prospered in England, making 294 runs at 36.75 for Leicestershire in limited overs matches and 941 at 40.91 in first-class competition, though his recent run in the Caribbean domestic T20 have been less promising – score of 8, 1, 2 and 7 in four matches for Guyana.
Gtvibes.com would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Ramnaresh Sarwan on making his way back into the West Indies team.