As a teenager, the Trinidadian made his one-day debut shortly after the 2003 World Cup, but had to wait a further six years before Test debut, against Australia in Brisbane in November 2009. 11 Tests have yielded just 27 wickets at 36.51, but alongside Fidel Edwards, Rampaul still forms a formidable new-ball pairing.
In a young West Indian side, Rampaul has emerged as one of the senior statesmen, and he made all the right noises on Friday afternoon as he looked ahead to the Test series in India. “We’ve just come out of a series win in Bangladesh and we are quite confident,” Rampaul began. “We are up against a stronger side here, hopefully we can play some competitive cricket. “Having played in Bangladesh, the conditions are similar. Hopefully, the guys are well prepared, because they have faced the conditions and scored a lot of runs on those wickets.”
Apart from Rampaul and Edwards, the West Indies have the pace of Kemar Roach and the accuracy of Darren Sammy at their disposal, but Rampaul said their attack wasn’t dependent on pace along. “We have quite a few spinners in the team, Bishoo has come on nicely. We are doing well as a bowling unit. Together, our bowling has been doing the job for us.”
The Feroze Shah Kotla pitch and the SG Test ball are both new to the Caribbeans. “I saw the pitch this morning, it looks dry, like a normal India track I guess,” Rampaul laughed.
“Hopefully, we will get a little assistance with the new ball. As for the SG ball, I just bowled with it. It’s the type of ball we use in the Caribbean, in Trinidad, to play our local cricket. It swings a lot. So hopefully, it should help us.”
Sachin Tendulkar is on the cusp of a 100th international hundred. “We are well aware of that,” Rampaul conceded. “But once we do what we have to do, there is no reason why we can’t stop him from scoring that hundred. We came here to play competitive cricket, we are here to win the series. We will be fighting hard.”