Bright star Bagai leads way for Canada future
The 25-year-old Ashish Bagai, batsman-wicketkeeper will be at the peak of his powers in the Caribbean and will be crucial if Canada are to have even the slightest hope of being one of the two teams from Group C to qualify for the second round
03-Mar-2007
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In the shape of Ashish Bagai, Canada can at least point to having at least one player who isn't the wrong side of 40. The 25-year-old New Delhi-born, batsman-wicketkeeper will be at the peak of his powers in the Caribbean and will be crucial if Canada are to have even the slightest hope of being one of the two teams from Group C to qualify for the second round. They could probably give Kenya a game but no-one is backing them to defeat England or New Zealand.
Bagai is one of the survivors from the 2003 World Cup in South Africa where he played in the 60-run victory over Bangladesh in Durban. He made just seven with the bat that day but took three catches to dismiss three of the top four Bangladesh batsmen to help set his country on its way.
He has now played 24 ODIs making 701 runs for an average of 35 and a top score of 137 not out which he hit in the recent World Cricket League in Kenya where he was named man of the tournament. He finished that six-nation competition with two centuries and a fifty and an average of 86.25
That kind of performance has pushed him up the pecking order and he is now vice-captain to John Davison. "It was a great thrill for me to win the [player of the tournament] award," said Bagai. "I am really psyched and it is great for my confidence ahead of the World Cup. I had no idea I had won the man of the tournament. David [Obuya of Kenya] and William [Porterfield of Ireland] did very well. I knew I was close but those guys had great tournaments too."
With attentions now turning towards the World Cup, Bagai said he could not be happier with his preparations. "It has been perfect. I was at the winter training camp in Pretoria [late last year). That was perfect for me - I really felt I improved. And then we had a hard-fought ODI series in Mombasa and then the World Cricket League. It has been ideal preparation."
Bagai also has courage. At the ICC Trophy in 2001, he played a major role in the last-over win against the UAE despite spending a night in hospital after being hit in the face with the ball.