West Indies leg-spinner Hayden Walsh Jr has lofty dreams of one day becoming the number one bowler in the world and insists he is diligently working towards the target.
The 28-year-old had a good look at just what it takes to get there, recently, having been teammates with top Afghan T20 spinner Rashid Khan for the Barbados Tridentsd during this season’s Caribbean Premier League (CPL). Khan, considered by some to be the best in the game, is currently the top-ranked T20 bowler in the world. It is a position Walsh aspires to one day attain.
“I definitely see myself as being number one in the world. I want to be number one as a spinner or a bowler,” Walsh told members of the media from the team’s training camp in New Zealand.
Walsh revealed that encountering Khan in this season’s CPL was fruitful, as he was offered plenty of valuable technical advice and also experienced the player’s fiercely competitive mentality first hand.
“I was really in awe of Rashid Khan and having him around. He taught me a few grips and a few of his googlies that he has in his armoury,” Walsh recalled.
“The one thing I took away, however, is that I am a different bowler from Rashid Khan and I probably just need to be myself sometimes. I love his mentality. He is always up for the fight and he never backs down,” he added.
Walsh is part of a 14-man T20 squad that will play against New Zealand in three T20 internationals later this month. (Sportsmax)
