Keemo Paul – Ready to make his mark
The name Keemo Paul has been floating around in the cricketing world for a while now, but now we can safely say that it has been cemented as a player of caliber and pure talent. Keemo is the definition of an Island boy. He was born on the Island of Saxacalli in the Essequibo River and then moved to Wakenaam Island at the age of 8 where he started his cricketing career.
He made his List A debut on 16 January 2015 in the 2014–15 Regional Super50 tournament. In December 2015, Keemo was named in the West Indies squad for the 2016 Under-19 Cricket World Cup.
During the tournament, Paul attracted some controversy when he mankaded (run out a batsman before bowling the ball) in the last over of the final group match between the West Indies and Zimbabwe. The West Indies won the match and consequently finished second in their group, qualifying for the quarter-finals and eventually going on to win the tournament. He took 7 wickets throughout the competition, including 2 in the final against India, as well as averaging over 40 with the bat for the tournament.
He made his first-class debut for Guyana in the 2016–17 Regional Four Day Competition on 18 March 2017. He made his Twenty20 debut for Guyana Amazon Warriors in the 2017 Caribbean Premier League on 5 August 2017. In October 2017, he scored his maiden century in first-class cricket, batting for Guyana against Jamaica in the 2017–18 Regional Four Day Competition.
In June 2018, he was named the Emerging Cricketer of the Year at the annual Cricket West Indies’ Awards.
On 9 March 2018, Paul was added to the West Indies squad for the 2018 Cricket World Cup Qualifier tournament, after Sheldon Cottrell suffered an injury. He made his One Day International (ODI) debut for the West Indies against Afghanistan in the World Cup Qualifier on 15 March 2018. He was also named in the West Indies squad for their Twenty20 International (T20I) series against Pakistan. He made his T20I debut for the West Indies against Pakistan on 1 April 2018.
In July 2018, he was named in the West Indies Test squad for the series against Bangladesh and made his Test debut for the West Indies on 12 July 2018.
A product of the Guyanese age group cricket, Keemo is inspired by state-mate Shivnarine Chanderpaul. Keemo Paul rightly so got to debut for the senior side in ODIs and T20Is.
Now Keemo is a part of the Guyana Amazon Warriors once again and this time he intends to make sure that the team crosses the finish line. (Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)
