Yadram enjoying Grenada but miss home & Family

Nov 23, 2019 Sports

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By Sean Devers in Trinidad

Twenty-year-old former West Indies U-19 all-rounder Bhaskar Yadram is a simple ‘County Boy’ from the East Coast Demerara Village of Nonpariel which is just in front of Enterprise about 35 minutes’ drive from the City of Georgetown in Guyana.

He has been living on the Easter Caribbean 136.6 Square-mile Island of Grenada since July 15 to further his cricket career but has had some challenges adapting to the different life style of living in the ‘Spice Isle’ especially the food, the language and culture of the people in that Windward Island.
For the first two weeks after his arrival, living alone for the first time he became homesick and badly missed his family and although he has now overcome most of those issues and made new friends, he still misses his family and Guyanese food.
But there are positives that far outweigh the negatives as he represents the Windward Islands Volcanoes who can no longer reach the semi-finals of the ongoing Regional Super50 cricket tournament here in Trinidad.
Yadram, who had the most wickets (11) for the West Indies in last year’s Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand and who played two First-Class matches for Guyana 2017 as a 17-year-old, explained how he was picked for the Windwards whose home base is Grenada.

“After I did not get a contract from GCB I put my name in the Franchise pool and was contacted by the Windwards’ Board and contracted for the 50-over and Four-day tournament which starts early next year,” informed Yadram who is the only batsman to score a triple century in Guyana’s U-19 Inter-County cricket.
“While I took a while to settle in, playing with Alex Athanaze before helped and we have become close friends. We share a four-bedroom apartment with Kaveem Hodge and Larry Edwards. Being in the Windwards camp is a good feeling and despite our performance in the Super50 here, we have a good vibe with a nice bunch of young players,” stated the six-footer, who says he has learnt a lot from advice given by Devon Smith, Shane Shillingford and Kirk Edwards.
“Living alone forces you become independent, responsible and a professional. I cook, clean and wash for myself now. My Dad taught me to cook, while WIPA sends money for the rent and Groceries,” said Yadram, whose mom is in the USA.
“Back home, I enjoyed music and playing Pools and spending time with family and friends and that’s what I miss the most. I am not a party type and when I get home from practice in Grenada we watch TV and talk cricket. I cook mostly stew I don’t have a favourite food but like, Dhall, Baggie, Chicken Curry which is not so available in Grenada.”
“I would love to play for Guyana but I think of the Windwards as my home and hurts when we don’t win. I try to always do my best for the team.”
“Grenada is a very nice place and grand Anse Beach is one of the best in world. When I first got here I was overweight but we do really hard training from Monday to Friday with Friday being the Gym work. I feel fitter and stronger now and have lost a lot of body fat but I am working on losing a few more pounds,” the talented youth said with a grin from the Team’s hotel in Port-of-Spain.
Yadram disclosed that their training consists of running up the Hills, agility and track work adding that he is now enjoying the hard work since he is seeing the results.
Yadram has played 14 List A games since making his Super 50 debut in 2017 for West Indies U-19 with 52 against the Windwards.
He has played five 50-over games for the Windwards this year and his List A record reads: 14 matches, 182 runs and 10 wickets.
He has 46 runs in this tournament batting down the order and has the second most wickets (6) for his team with a best of 4-22.
Only Keron Cottoy who has seven scalps including 5-32, has more wickets than him for Volcanoes.
“I am a batting all-rounder and became a pacer when I was 16. I had a good U-19 World Cup with the ball but I enjoy batting more. I am not genuinely quick although my height gives me extra bounce, so I have developed lots of variations like slower balls and a lot of yorkers, especially in T20 cricket,” explained Yadram
“Since I was small I used to hit the ball hard so the Windwards use me as power-hitter during the last few overs. I have a good technique and I can hit the ball hard so I enjoy 50 and 20 over formats but I am looking forward to the four-day tournament and my aim is to play Test cricket. You can play all three formats, it’s about adapting technically and mentally,” said Yadram.
Yadram feels he has been good with the ball but wanted to cash in with some good scores in his last two matches but unfortunately the game on Thursday was washed out.
“I have learnt that when you play at this level you have to work hard and play smart cricket and can’t be lackadaisical. My goals for this tournament, was to learn as much as possible and play team cricket for us to win. I am disappointed with the results but we want to end with a win. When this is finished we go back to Grenada to prepare for the four-day tournament,” informed Yadram, who was born on September 18, 1999.
Yadram said that pitches in Grenada are similar to those at home but while most of the grounds are not as good as in Guyana, the facilities are much better.
“We train at the National Stadium where there is a Gym and indoor nets with lights and a bowling machine. My aim in the next three years in to play for the West Indies and remaining humble when you become successful,” added Yadram who attended the Enterprise Nursery and Primary schools before going to the Bladen Hall Multilateral.
“I put cricket ahead of studies so when my cricket career is over I think I will be a Businessman like my dad who does trading,” disclosed Yadram who played three years at U-15, two at U-17 and three at U-19 levels with the first at U-19 being as a Keeper before bowling spin.
Yadram played his first match for Enterprise when he was nine after looking out the window of his school, which is next to the Enterprise ground and growing up in a cricketing family sparked an early interest in cricket. His sister (Kavita) played for Guyana, while his dad and brother played club cricket and his Uncle is a Coach at the National Sports Commission (NSC).
He played U-13s for City Club GYO and Captained the Georgetown U-15 team at age 13.
Asked why he thinks Guyana has dominated Regional First-Class cricket for the last five years and when their players get selected to the higher level they generally don’t have outstanding performances?
Yadram said he feels it is a mental thing, adding our First Class system does not develop the mental and technical skills for a young player to go to places like Australia, South Africa, England and India and be consistently successful.
“I feel Guyana cricket has improved over the years that we were dominating due to the Academy System which I was a part of. But I also think because Guyanese were not getting picked for West Indies we had the same group together for a long time plus the other teams who had West Indies players going off on tours got weaker.”
The Windwards play their last game against the USA tomorrow and Yadram hopes he can bat higher in the order to show his worth with the bat.

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