Go bang bang. Or, wait, no. Take your own time. Or, you know what- do whatever you want, but score runs. Score runs, Shimron Hetmyer.
Not some instruction manual written anywhere. Not some do’s or don’t(s) either; just the feeling of the inveterate West Indian fan who wishes to see the famous Guyanese batsman contribute to the team.
Now that the noted figure in white ball West Indies cricket is back.
What is needed is that the hit man- and no, these dangerous likes don’t only exist in the Indian sub-continent- has to make runs.
The time has come. Shimron Hetmyer’s chance is now.
And everyone knows, and one needs no tutoring how desperately the southpaw has waited for a chance to come back to the West Indies team, one to which he belongs.
It’s a team to which he must belong. Not so difficult to understand why.
But first things first. Shimron Hetmyer returns to the West Indies side after a gap
of a little over eight months.
In an era where cricket is fast paced, I have just as quick as the quick who excel in it, Having being on the sidelines for a period of eight months must have been painful. It must have caused him nightmares.
But here he is again: The babyface Guyanese is big hitter, one who can send a white ball out of the park with great ease and redoubtable skill.
Moreover, Hetmyer has not one or two but five games up ahead (v India) with which to make a strong case for his selection in the mother of all sporting battles that lies up ahead: the 2022 T20 World Cup.
But before that, he must impact this series. One that the West Indies would, should surely target as a comeback of sorts having been left humiliated after their shoddy 3-nil ODI series loss suffered at the hands of the Indians.
Interestingly – though one doesn’t know how far this will impact the team this time around in these T20Is- Shimron Hetmyer boasts of a very promising (not just decent) outing against India.
He’s scored runs north of a strike rate of 138, having scored 178 of them from nine outings with the bat.
So the key question here is: after having sat out for well over half a year due to fitness reasons that apparently since then turned into a debatable, if not entirely polarising, subject, can Shimron Hetmyer reward the faith of his selectors? Moreover, how soon can he answer back those who’ve sort of always doubted him?
That being said, Lead selector, Cricket West Indies, Mr Desmond Haynes happened to share the following with regards to the Shimron Hetmyer news.
The batting great from Barbados shared, “We welcome back Hetmyer and it is good to see him again in West Indies colours. He will fortify the batting group and with his experience and adaptability we have a ‘finisher’ who can add value and win matches for the team and delight the supporters.”
The following is what a leading sports journal on the game note basis Shimron Hetmyer’s recent IPL form in 2022, where he represented the Rajasthan Royals. This, does, give a clear idea why Hetmyer “could” be a threat to the Indian side basis recent T20 form:
- Hetmyer has been phenomenal as the finisher for Rajasthan Royals. He averaged a whopping 105.00 in death overs.
- The southpaw was the third highest run-getter in the death overs in IPL hitting 210 runs off just 98 balls.
- He also hit boundaries at will smashing 12 fours and 19 sixes.