Ravindranath Rampaul (born 15 October 1984) is a
Trinidad
Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...
ian
cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...
er. Rampaul has played for
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...
in domestic cricket, in the
Indian Premier League
The Indian Premier League (IPL), also known as TATA IPL for sponsorship reasons, is a men's T20 franchise cricket league of India. It is annually contested by ten teams based out of seven Indian cities and three Indian states. The leagu ...
for
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Royal Challengers Bangalore (often abbreviated as RCB) are a franchise cricket team based in Bangalore, Karnataka, that plays in the Indian Premier League (IPL). It was founded in 2008 by United Spirits and named after the company's liquor ...
, and in English
County cricket for
Surrey and
Derbyshire
Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...
. He was born at
Preysal
Couva is an urban town (48,858 in 2011 census) in west-central Trinidad, south of Port of Spain and Chaguanas and north of San Fernando and Point Fortin. It is the capital and main urban centre of Couva–Tabaquite–Talparo, and the Greater ...
in
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...
.
Youth cricket
Rampaul played youth cricket for West Indies and Trinidad and Tobago, playing at the World Under-15 Challenge in England in
2000
File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...
, and at the 2002 Under-19 World Cup, before breaking the record wicket tally in the regional youth tournament in West Indies after taking 45 wickets in five matches during the 2002 tournament. The following season, he took 27 wickets, as Trinidad and Tobago won their first youth title since 1987. By that time, however, he had also made his first-class debut, playing three
Busta Cup
The Regional Four Day Competition, formerly known as Shell Shield and Carib Beer Cup, is the first-class cricket competition in the West Indies. It is administered by the Cricket West Indies. In the 2013-2014 season the winner of the tourname ...
matches for Trinidad and Tobago during the
2001–02 season and taking six wickets.
International career
After playing six further matches during the
2002–03 season, and taking 18 wickets, with only
Marlon Black
Marlon Ian Black (born 7 June 1975, Trinidad and Tobago) is a former West Indian cricketer who played in six Tests and five ODIs, debuting in 2000.
He played his last international in 2002 due largely to an incident where he was attacked and b ...
taking more for
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...
that season, Rampaul was selected for
West Indies Under-19s in the
2003–04 Red Stripe Bowl
The 2003–04 Red Stripe Bowl was the 30th edition of what is now the Regional Super50, the domestic limited-overs cricket competition for the countries of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB). It ran from 1 to 19 October 2003, with matches pla ...
one-day tournament. Rampaul was leading wicket-taker for the U-19 team, as his eight wickets was double that of any other, and after the tournament completed, Rampaul was called up to represent West Indies in their
tour of Zimbabwe in October and November.
Rampaul went wicketless in his first game, sending down 13 no-balls in 30 overs, and was not selected for either of the two Test matches. However, after taking two wickets, including opener
Dion Ebrahim
Dion Digby Ebrahim (born 7 August 1980) is a former Zimbabwean cricketer, who played Tests and ODIs. He now lives in New Zealand where he works as a cricket coach.
International career
A graduate of the CFX Academy in Harare, Ebrahim was consid ...
, in the one-day warm-up match against
Zimbabwe A, Rampaul played in four of the five ODIs. He failed to take a wicket in the series, which West Indies eventually claimed 3–2 with a win in the final game, and Rampaul was the most expensive West Indian bowler among those bowling more than four overs per game,
Rampaul also went to the
South African leg of the tour, and recorded his first five-wicket-haul in first-class cricket, taking five of the first six wickets in a tour match against
Free State. They were 86 for six after West Indies had posted 618, and Rampaul ended with figures of five for 55. Rampaul played all three tour games, but once again was left out of the Test matches. After "impressing" in a one-day tour match against
South Africa A, he was left out of the team for the first ODI, but replaced
Vasbert Drakes
Vasbert Conniel Drakes (born 5 August 1969 in Springhead, Saint Andrew, Barbados) is a former West Indian cricketer, who played Tests and ODIs. He was a right-arm medium-fast bowler and handy right-hand lower order batsman.
Drakes featured fo ...
for the second match after West Indies had lost the first by 209 runs. Rampaul picked up the wicket of
Jacques Kallis
Jacques Henry Kallis (born 16 October 1975) is a South African cricket coach and former cricketer. Widely regarded as one of the greatest cricketers of all time and as South Africa's greatest batsman ever, he is a right-handed batsman and righ ...
for 16, and contributed 24 runs, his highest ODI total to date, but was last out as West Indies lost by 16 runs. He removed Kallis again in the final ODI, when West Indies had a chance to level the 5-match series to 2–2 (with one match rained off), but Kallis had already made his best ODI score to date, scoring 135 as South Africa chased the West Indian total of 304 for two. Rampaul's ten overs cost 56 runs, but he was praised for a "marvellous late effort"
After once again playing in the Under-19 World Cup, taking nine wickets as West Indies reached the final but ultimately lost to
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...
, Rampaul played in all five ODIs against
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
at home, taking four wickets but once again being the most expensive of the regular bowlers. Between 1 October 1998 and 14 July 2006 only
Tino Best
Tino la Bertram Best (born 26 August 1981) is a West Indian cricketer. Since 2002, he has played domestic cricket for his native Barbados, with a season at English club Yorkshire in 2010. Best made his Test debut in May 2003 and played his first ...
conceded more
wides and
no-ball
In cricket, a no-ball is a type of illegal delivery to a batter (the other type being a wide). It is also a type of extra, being the run awarded to the batting team as a consequence of the illegal delivery. For most cricket games, especially ...
s per ten overs in ODIs for the West Indies.
Injury problems
Rampaul was selected in a 13-man squad to play the first home Test against
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
, but was not selected to play, and one month later, he was struck with injury. He had played three matches during the
2004 NatWest Series
The NatWest Series is the name used for One Day International cricket tournaments held in England since 2000. The tournaments are sponsored by the National Westminster Bank.
2000 to 2005: triangular series
The original format of the NatWest Seri ...
, recording his best ODI figures with two wickets,
Geraint Jones
Geraint Owen Jones (born 14 July 1976) is a former cricketer who played for both England and Papua New Guinea. Born to Welsh parents in Papua New Guinea, between 2004 and 2006 he was the first-choice wicketkeeper for the England cricket team. ...
and
Andrew Strauss
Sir Andrew John Strauss (born 2 March 1977) is an English cricket administrator and former player, formerly the Director of Cricket for the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). He played county cricket for Middlesex, and captained the Englan ...
, for 34 in a seven-wicket win over
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, but due to a shin injury he took no further part in the series, and flew home before the Test matches. Rampaul returned to cricket when he turned up in Trinidad league cricket in February 2005, and represented Trinidad and Tobago again during the
2005–06 KFC Cup in October, where he played four matches and was Trinidad and Tobago's leading wicket-taker along with
Samuel Badree
Samuel Badree (born 8 March 1981) is a former Trinidadian cricketer and cricket coach who played international cricket for the West Indies. He is a right-arm leg-spin bowler.
Badree made his first-class debut for Trinidad and Tobago in 2002, b ...
. However, Rampaul sustained a leg injury, and did not play any games during the
first-class Carib Beer Series, which his team won.
Return from injury
In July 2006, Rampaul was awarded a cricket scholarship by the Australian
High Commissioner to Trinidad and Tobago, and attended coaching sessions in Australia.
Rampaul became
Ireland's overseas player for the
2008 Friends Provident Trophy. He helped them win their first FP Trophy game for two years against
Warwickshire
Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Av ...
. In six matches for Ireland Rampaul took 10 wickets at an average of 28.70, with best bowling figures of 3/40.
Pakistan
toured the West Indies in April and May 2011 for a T20I, five ODIs, and two Tests. Osman Samiuddin remarked that during the Tests Rampaul "ran in precisely with the enthusiasm of a man unable to believe how his career has suddenly soared, racing in so the dream doesn't suddenly end". Rampaul was the West Indies leading wicket-taker in the series, with eleven dismissals from two Tests. India began a
tour of the West Indies in June. Rampaul was fined 10 per cent of his match fee for the first Test for questioning the umpire's decision when he was given out. He managed ten wickets in the three-match series while conceding 249 runs.
A shoulder injury in March prevented Rampaul from playing domestic cricket for Trinidad and Tobago; a bout of
dengue fever the same month prevented him from playing in the ODI series against Australia. He began club cricket towards the end of the month and hoped to represent Trinidad and Tobago to prove his fitness to the national selectors. At last Rampaul was included in the team for the third and final Test after an injury to fellow fast bowler
Fidel Edwards
Fidel Henderson Edwards (born 6 February 1982) is a Barbadian cricketer, who plays all formats of the game. A pace bowler, his round-arm action is "not unlike" that of former fast bowler Jeff Thomson. He was spotted in the nets by Brian Lara and ...
.
In September 2021, Rampaul was named in the West Indies' squad for the
2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup
The 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup was the seventh ICC Men's T20 World Cup tournament, with the matches played in the United Arab Emirates and Oman from 17 October to 14 November 2021. The West Indies were the defending champions, but were eventu ...
.
Bowling style
In 2004, at the age of 19, Rampaul was regularly bowling in excess of and by 2011 the usual pace of his deliveries was pushing . Rampaul is well known for his
swing bowling
Swing bowling is a technique used for bowling in the sport of cricket. Practitioners are known as swing bowlers. Swing bowling is generally classed as a subtype of fast bowling.
The aim of swing bowling is to cause the ball to move in the ai ...
, in the words of
ESPNcricinfo
ESPN cricinfo (formerly known as Cricinfo or CricInfo) is a sports news website exclusively for the game of cricket. The site features news, articles, live coverage of cricket matches (including liveblogs and scorecards), and ''StatsGuru'', a ...
's Daniel Brettig, "Sending the ball down at brisk pace, Rampaul maintains an immaculate seam position, maximising his chances of early deviation through the air or off the pitch".
An attack for England?
by Daniel Brettig, published by Cricinfo, 23 April 2012, retrieved on 24 April 2012
References
External links
*
Ravi Rampaul
at Royal Challengers Bangalore
Royal Challengers Bangalore (often abbreviated as RCB) are a franchise cricket team based in Bangalore, Karnataka, that plays in the Indian Premier League (IPL). It was founded in 2008 by United Spirits and named after the company's liquor ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rampaul, Ravi
1984 births
Living people
Trinidad and Tobago people of Indian descent
Sportspeople of Indian descent
West Indies Test cricketers
West Indies One Day International cricketers
West Indies Twenty20 International cricketers
Cricketers at the 2011 Cricket World Cup
Trinidad and Tobago cricketers
Ireland cricketers
Royal Challengers Bangalore cricketers
Barbados Royals cricketers
Surrey cricketers
Derbyshire cricketers
Trinbago Knight Riders cricketers
Colombo Stars cricketers