Nagamootoo played his 5 Tests in five different Continents Feels T20 is taking away the interest from 4-Day cricket

May 07, 2020 Sports

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By Sean Devers

Former Guyana and West Indies leg-spinner 44-year-old Mahendra Veeren Nagamootoo was never given an extended run in a Five-Test career which lasted from August 2000 to October 2002 and played in a single Test in five different Continents.

In his five Tests he has taken 12 with a best of 3-119 and scored 168 with a highest score of 68 against Australia, while in 24 ODIs he took 18 wickets with a best of 4-32.
In his 102 First-Class matches Nagamootoo scored 2,578 runs with one century and seven fifties, while he captured 370 wickets with a best of 7-76 and took 13 five-wicket hauls and two 10-wicket hauls.
In 107 List ‘A’ games, Nagamootoo has 142 wickets with a best of 5-23 and a highest score of 63. In seven T20 games he has nine scalps with a best of 5-15.
Nagamootoo has played for Port Mourant, Berbice, Guyana and West Indies U-19s, Berbice, Guyana, West Indies Select X1, West Indies Board X1, West Indies ‘A’ and West Indies. He has also played club cricket in Trinidad.
He was born on October 9, 1975, in in the Village of Whim in Corentyne, Berbice to Simon Nagamootoo and Mavis Kallicharran and attended the Manchester High School.
Cricket runs in his blood; former West Indies Captain Alvin Kallicharran and Guyana First-Class leg-spinner Derick Kallicharran are his mother’s siblings, while arguable Guyana finest batsman, Rohan Kanhai is a relative from his father’s side.
If that was not enough, his younger brother Vishal Nagamootoo was Guyana’s Wicket-Keeper during a large part of Mahendra’s First-Class career. And just for good measure his uncle Mosses Nagamootoo, is the Prime Minister of Guyana.
“I first became interested in being a cricketer when I was 11 years old when I played for my Village team, Whim Nationals cricket club,” informed ‘Yanko’ as he is called by his close friends.
Vishaul became a Keeper because Mahendra would bowl all day at the side of their yard and his younger brother would have to stop the balls. He is one of three siblings since he also has a sister, Natasha.

Mahendra married Nadia Brijmohan in 2015 when he migrated to the USA and has a daughter (Natalie) from his previous marriage.
The right arm leggie who bats left-handed, made his Berbice U-19 debut when he was 16 and the same year played for Guyana in the Regional U-19 tournament. He played at that level for four years.
‘Nagass’ dominated youth cricket as a competent bowling all-rounder who was good enough to score 108 against the Windwards.
In 1992 Guyana began an unpresented six-year winning streak in Regional U-19 Cricket with Nagamootoo playing a key role in the first three years after making his Senior Inter-County debut in 1992.
Nagamootoo also played club cricket in Trinidad for Central Sports in 2012 and for Munroe Road in 2013 & 2014.
“First division cricket was very competitive, while I was playing for Mourant, playing with cricketers like Dhaniram and Clayton Lambert,” said Nagamootoo.
The Berbician made his First-Class debut for Guyana in 1995 and played his first 50-over game the next year.

In the 1998 Senior Inter-County four-day tournament, Skipper Nagamootoo took 5-102 from 61 overs and was backed up Sean Devers who had 3-81 from 62 overs at Albion as Berbice took first innings points and beat Demerara for the first time in 20 years.
Clayton Lambert returned and took over the Captaincy as Berbice beat Essequibo who were bowled for 31 which remains the Inter-County record for lowest total. Nagamootoo took nine wickets in the game including five in the second. Devers had 6-12 in the first innings and pacer Kevin Darlington 5-22 in the second innings as Berbice won the Hand-in-Hand title at a ram-packed Hampton Court ground in Essequibo.
In the 2000 Regional First Class season, Nagamootoo grabbed 34 wickets and scored 446 runs including his only First-Class century and a half-century.
This performance helped him to a West Indies Test debut in August 2000 against host England at the Oval, but he only played a solitary Test on that tour.
His highest Test score came in Australia when the majority of the runs in his shot-filled 68 came of leg-spinner Shane Warne but that was to be his lone Test of that series.
Nagamootoo also played a single Test in South Africa and one more on his South American home ground Bourda where he dismissed Sachin Tendulkar before he was again dropped.
In the 2002 Regional season, he became the first bowler to claim 50 wickets in a single season. His wickets came at an Average of 22.40 and included four five-wicket hauls with a best of 6-61.
This earned him a Test recall for the trip to India where he played the last of his Tests on October 2002 in Mumbai.

“My most memorable moment playing for Guyana was when we won the KFC Cup against Barbados at Bourda in 2005. We were delighted and what makes it more satisfying is that since then we have not won another one-day Trophy,” the slimly built leg-spinner stated.
That Final was played almost 15 years ago on October 6, 2005 and Guyana won by seven runs on the (D/L) system in fading light when Neil McGarrell hit left arm spinner Sulieman Benn back over his head.
Nagamootoo captured 3-53, while McGarrell had 3-57 as Barbados reached 248-9 in 50 overs.
Guyana’s Ramnaresh Sarwan had scored two centuries in Barbados and one in the semi-finals at Bourda. However, he was removed for five by pacer Corey Collymore but a Man-of-the-Match 119 from opener Sewnarine Chattergoon and 34 each from Krishna Arjune and Narsingh Deonarine, saw Guyana to 247-7 when bad light stopped after 49 overs.
Nagamootoo was a member of Guyana’s team when each player became Millionaires by defeating Trinidad in the final of the inaugural Sanford T20 tournament in Antigua in 2006.
“That was the most exciting tournament I have ever played in, we were treated like Kings and we had so much fun. I remember that night sitting with the other players in the dug-out. We needed five from two balls and were so nervous and tense.
As (Samuel) Badree ran in to bowl to Narsingh (Deonarine), the Guyanese fans were shouting and waving Guyana flags and when he hit him for six we all raced out…some screaming, some crying…wow that was a match,” Nagamootoo recounted.
During the 2007 Regional season, left arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul replaced Neil McGarrell, while Nagamootoo was dropped at 31, for Davendra Bishoo, who was then 21, to make his First-class debut against CCC at Providence, Mar 7-10, 2008, as old guards were changed for younger players.
“When I was dropped I was still young and playing well and I was disappointed,” said Nagamootoo, whose 331 wickets from 84 First-Class matches for Guyana, is only behind Permaul’s 479 from 100 matches for Guyana.
The Guyanese is still bitter at how his career ended. “I never played more matches for the West Indies because I got a raw deal. I was still bowling good when I was dropped. I was not treated fairly and I was the best spin bowler in Caribbean at that time,” he lamented.
“I want local cricket to be as competitive as it was back in the days, I want to give back to Guyana’s cricket, I want to coach Berbice and maybe Guyana. I think we have to find a way for all the good players to represent their club,” said the former Test spinner, who says he follows Guyana and West Indies cricket closely.
He feels for West Indies Cricket to successful those in charge needs to be more inclusive and diverse. His feels this is lacking. He also feels that the highly commercialised T20 leagues are affecting West Indies Test Cricket.
“I think T20 is taking away the interest for Four-Day cricket. In our days it was not like that. Cricketers like Carl Hooper, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Clayton Lambert, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Neil McGarrell these are some guys who were regional strong holds in four-day cricket, not T20.
The Board needs to pay the good players; encouraging them to stand up for their Country. All other Countries are buying our good players for the T20 leagues,” said Nagamootoo, who says the fastest bowler has faced is Franklin Rose.
Although he has been living in the USA for over five years, Nagamootoo says he was never interested in USA cricket.
“I am currently employed by Dave West Indian imports doing Marketing and play cricket socially on weekends.”
A quick, flat leg-spinner who could also turn the ball, Nagamootoo said the best four batsmen he has bowled are Brian Lara, Sanchin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Steve Waugh in that order.
Asked what advice he would give to young leg spinners, Nagamootoo said that bowling wrist spin is the most difficult aspect in cricket and said leg spinners need to practice hard. They need to go into the nets get a feel of the ball, even sleep with the ball in their hands.
He provided his opinion on Shimron Hetymer and Rakeem Cornwall.
“Hetymer is good player who is getting carried away by the crowd, while Cornwall is a good bowler, he gets bounce and turns the ball but needs to lose a bit more weight to play test cricket since he just walks in to bowl,” stated Nagamootoo.
“The main people who helped me are Sunny Verapen, who when he saw me in Whim and took me to Port Mourant and Pat Legal, our under-19 Manager. May he rest in peace,” Nagamootoo concluded.

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