Point proven

Barbados and West Indies batting all-rounder Roston Chase would not mind a call-up to play in the lucrative multi-million dollar-generating Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket tournament someday.

The 28-year-old had a satisfactory outing for the St. Lucia Zouks where he played a major part with his all-round ability to help them reach the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) final. In fact, this was the first time in CPL history that Zouks made it to the final but lost to hosts Trinbago Knight Riders.

Chase told Barbados TODAY via a telephone interview it would be nice for him to be called up to the IPL and would even love a chance to represent the West Indies in that format.

He said: “I would love to have the opportunity to play in an IPL and experience what it is like to be among those world-class players in the T20 format. I really enjoyed playing with the Zouks and the T20 format, so I look forward to one day wearing the maroon in this format for the West Indies.”

Chase who has consistently delivered with both bat and ball in his international career finished with figures of 225 runs at an average of 37.50 and captured nine wickets with his right-hand off-spin at an economy rate of 4.65 runs per over for the Zouks.

In what was his first real CPL outing even though he was part of the Barbados Tridents camp in 2018 but never played, Chase said his time representing the Zouks was a relatively good one. He explained that his performance speaks for itself even though many questioned his ability to play the fast pace, shorter format of the game.

“I would say that it was a decent tournament for me seeing that people didn’t expect much of me, people classed me as a Test cricketer only. So my performances opened up some people’s eyes to my cricketing ability, “ he said.

He added: “I went into the competition looking to do my best. I don’t worry about what people have to say about me and my cricketing ability. I just go out there to do what I know I can do, so it was never here or there with me.”

After being drafted for the 2020 season, Chase explained that Zouks head coach Andy Flower along with assistant Roddy Estwick gave him a role that allowed him to perform as an all-rounder and he enjoyed it immensely.

The talented cricketer recalled that in 2011 when he first started practising with the Barbados senior men’s team, Henderson Springer who is now the Barbados Cricket Association senior head coach, advised Chase that being a batsman that can bowl would give him that extra opportunity and it has paid off.

Each franchise drafted at least one emerging player for this year’s CPL tournament and Chase said he was happy to see such young players being given the opportunity to perform.

“I think it is a good idea to have at least one emerging player on a team in CPL because there aren’t many opportunities for guys to showcase their T20 skills in terms of playing in the Caribbean. There is no other T20 tournament besides CPL regionally like how you have four days and Super 50, and for CPL there are international players and local players. It is not only regional players, so it is hard for guys to really showcase their skills if you are not on the international stage for people to see you.

“It is good to give the youngsters some exposure, so they can start their T20 careers a bit earlier. A guy like me is getting old now starting my T20 career. I had to wait late, so I think it is good for those guys to get a head start, “ he said.

While confident in his ability with both bat and ball, Chase indicated that there is always room for improvement. “I think in the T20 arena, it is always good to have more power because it is fast-paced cricket and you have to hit some boundaries when needed. So, I think in terms of batting wise, it is just to open up my shot range and add a bit more power to my game, so I can maximise more scoring areas. Also, thinking about adding more variations to my bowling in terms of taking the ball away from the right-handers are areas I will work on for the future playing the T20 format, “ he explained.

morissalindsay@barbadostoday.bb