Keemo Paul Biography, Career info, Achievements, Records

Keemo Paul is a professional West Indies cricketer born on 21 February 1998 in Guyana. He is a bowling all-rounder who bats right-handed and bowls right-arm fast-medium.

He was a part of West Indies U19 World Cup winning team and the World Cup Qualifiers winning team. He was awarded the T20I Player of the Year 2019 by Cricket West Indies.

Background

A 17-year-old Keemo made his List A debut the same year he was added to the U19 squad for the World Cup in 2016. He attracted the attention of the cricket fans all over the world because of a couple of instances during the tournament.

He ‘mankaded’ a Zimbabwe batsman in order to win a crucial match and qualify for the Quarter Finals. He once again earned fame for scoring the winning runs against India in the Final a few days later.

He got his First Class debut in 2017 for Guyana in the Four-Day Regional Cup, which is the premier domestic competition in the islands. For his performances in the domestic tournaments, and then the Caribbean Premier League, he got his national call-up.

Debut

Paul made his ODI debut in the ICC World Cup Qualifiers for the mega event in 2019. He played against Afghanistan on 15 March 2018 at the Harare Sports Club in Harare. He received some boos from the crowd for the infamous mankading batsman against the home team. West Indies batted first and got 197/8 in their 50 overs. Paul scored an unbeaten 16 runs. He further took 2/29 in his 8.4 overs as Afghanistan chased down the target with 3 wickets in hand and 14 balls to spare.

Paul’s T20I debut match was a disaster for West Indies but he stood out in both the innings. The Caribbean boys faced Pakistan in the National Stadium in Karachi on 1 April 2018 to resume international fixtures in the nation. The home side scored 203/5 in their 20 overs but Paul bowled miserly and returned with figures of 1/26 in his 4 overs. The visitors were then skittled out for just 60, which was their lowest score in a T20I then. Paul was the only man that remained not out on 10.

He made his Test debut three months later against Bangladesh on 12 July 2018 at Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica. The home side were all out for 354. Paul got a five-ball duck in his debut Test innings. Bangladesh could manage only 149 in their first essay as Paul took 2/25. The visitors were set a target of 335 as the home side got 129. Bangladesh could manage only 168 and lost the match by 166 runs.

Club career

The Guyanese all-rounder plays for his state Guyana in the First Class and List A domestic competitions in the Caribbean islands.

He was selected to play for the Guyana Amazon Warriors in the Caribbean Premier League in 2017 and continues to be a part of the franchise. In the first couple of seasons with the team, he has played 13 matches in the tournament to score 28 runs and pick up 7 wickets.

The Delhi Capitals roped him in for the 2019 edition of the Indian Premier League. He played 8 matches, scored 18 runs and took 9 wickets in the season.