Trinidad and Tobago right arm slow bowler Karishma Ramharack is a woman on a mission. The 23-year-old will be representing the twin island republic for the 4thtime in the women’s regional tournament and the Tunapuna based cricketer has set her sights high in 2018.
After bursting on to the scene with a match-winning, and record-breaking, 8 for 23 against South Windwards in 2015, Ramharack is gunning to be the leading wicket-taker in the T&T ranks this time around. “Last year I picked up eleven wickets in the six matches I played, I finished second behind my teammate Anisa Mohammed who took two more wickets than me, this year I am looking to surpass Anisa, as I want to be the leading wicket-taker for my country and ultimately the tournament.”
Ramharack, who is currently completing her final year of a Civil Engineering degree at the University of Trinidad & Tobago, has been working very hard in training and hopes that this year will be the breakout year for her at the regional level. “I have always believed in my abilities and know that once I work hard, I can achieve my goals, the ICC T20 Championships will be in the Caribbean this year, and I am hoping that my performance can find favour with the Windies Women’s selectors, as that would be my dream.”
The young woman from El Dorado has represented Hibiscus Cricket Club as well as North Star Blaze in local T&T cricket competitions. She has credited her uncles, Keshel Dookran and Krishna Deederan, for what she has been able to achieve in cricket thus far. “Both my uncles helped me to where I am right now, I played my first competitive match at age six, but I really started to take the game serious at age 14. My most memorable moment was when I took the eight wickets in front of my home crowd against the Windwards, I will never forget that, and I want to go on to be one of the best bowlers in the West Indies.”
Ramharack believes that the 2018 Windies Women’s championship will be a very competitive one, as T&T will be looking to secure a hat-trick of titles in the 50 over format. “This year will definitely be a very competitive one, as teams like Barbados, the Windwards and host team Jamaica will be putting up a challenge.”
The 2018 Windies Women’s Championship will feature the T20 Blaze and Super 50 tournaments, and Ramharack is pleased that the women in the Caribbean are playing more and more cricket. “It is great that we are playing the two formats back to back, I actually hope that we can play even more matches in the future, as we look to grow women’s cricket in the region.”
The left-handed batter was pleased with the initiative showed by the West Indies Players’ Association (WIPA) to increase the coverage and exposure of the women in the tournament. “It is great to see the work being done by WIPA to expose our women more in the game. The interaction and inclusiveness by WIPA have given us women more hope for a better future in the game.”
“I would encourage young girls coming up to never give up on their dreams and keep working hard towards their goals.” – Ramharack
Trinidad and Tobago will open their championship in the T20 Blaze against the Leewards at the UWI ground in Jamaica on June 10.
-WIPA
