Kemar Roach

The land of West Indies has produced some of the best fast bowlers the game has ever seen. One such bowler who has made a name for himself at the international stage is Kemar Roach. Fast and furious is what defines Roach the best. 

Before making his international debut, Roach participated in the 2006 U-19 World Cup and was impressive with his pace and great control over the line and length.

Fast forward two years later, and Roach was in the West Indies T20I squad which was scheduled to face-off against the Aussies. Roach had a great start to his international career, picking up 2 wickets, but most importantly troubling the Australian batters at will.

He made his Test debut against Bangladesh in 2009, when the West Indian board decided to send the B team for the series. 

But it was in the tour Down Under where Roach actually made his name, by bowling quick and with hostility. He troubled the Australian skipper, Ricky Ponting, on numerous occasions and forced him to retire hurt after hitting him on his elbow in the third Test at WACA. 

Roach was a subject of a bidding war between Chennai Super Kings and Deccan Chargers (Now Sunrisers Hyderabad), in the 2010 Indian Premier League. Finally, the Chargers managed to rope him for the 2010 season.

The fast bowler was included in West Indies' 2011 World Cup squad, and in a group stage game against the Netherlands, Roach became the sixth bowler to register a hat-trick in the history of the World Cup. He finished his spell with figures of 6 for 27 to rattle the Dutch team.

Roach was out for half of the season due to injury, but despite that, he finished as the highest wicket-taker for West Indies in the ODI’s in 2011.

Australia toured the West Indies in 2012. In the second Test match of the series, Roach took his maiden ten-wicket haul and became the first bowler to take ten wickets in a Test match since Corey Collymore in 2005. 

By the end of 2014, Roach seemed to have fulfilled his potential, with a bowling average in the mid 20’s after 29 Test matches. An ankle injury towards the end of 2014 slowed him down, but Roach went back to the domestic circuit, trained hard and after an impressive 2016 domestic season, was re-called in the West Indies team for the Test series against England in 2017. 

In 2019, Roach was part of the ODI World Cup squad, where he ended up with 6 wickets in 4 matches of the tournament. 

In the third Test against England in 2020, Roach took his 200th wicket in Test matches and became the ninth West Indian to achieve this landmark. 

Roach was certainly the find of West Indies cricket towards the end of the last decade. His express pace and the ability to hit the deck hard makes him a potent weapon upfront. Injuries have slowed him down over the years, but even now Roach can clock up to 140kph and has a mean yorker to trouble any batsmen in the world.

(As of March 2021)