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WICKET-KEEPER Joshua Da Silva described the West Indies series win over Bangladesh as his best moment in his brief cricket career after the regional team achieved a rare accomplishment – a Test series win on their opponent's soil.
On Sunday, West Indies clinched a 2-0 series win over Bangladesh in exciting fashion with a 17-run win. Bangladesh needed 231 for victory, but were dismissed for 213.
It was the regional team's first Test series win in their opponent's backyard in four years and only their second in the last nine years. The two opponents were Zimbabwe (1-0) in 2017 and Bangladesh (2-0) in 2012.
West Indies got past Afghanistan 1-0 in 2019, but the lone Test match was played at a neutral venue in India.
Da Silva, who went into the series with only one Test match under his belt, demonstrated his quality.
Da Silva, 22, ended the series as the third-best West Indies batsman, scoring 174 runs at an average of 43.50.
He dedicated his score of 92 in the first innings of the second Test to Andrea Bharatt and other women lost to violence.
Da Silva, responding to Newsday via WhatsApp voice notes, said, "This series win is the best achievement in my cricket career so far. Having a part to play in the win as well, contributing to the team (and) scoring some runs. It's a good feeling and it will definitely be up there for sure at number one in my achievements."
Over the last two years, Da Silva's career has taken off, as he has established himself as a key member of the TT Red Force four-day team. In 2019, he was a member of the West Indies Emerging Players team which won the Regional Super50 tournament and last year he represented St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in the Hero Caribbean Premier League. At the end of 2020, Da Silva scored a half-century on his Test debut on the West Indies tour of New Zealand, before the tour of Bangladesh.
He said, "The past year or two has been really, really good for me, from winning with the emerging team in Super50, then going back to first-class (cricket) with Red Force scoring a maiden hundred, then going to England (with West Indies). Coming back from England (and) playing CPL was a huge stepping stone, to mix with the likes of Chris Lynn and Ben Dunk and all of those foreign players helping me advance my game."
He hopes it continues "and I keep working hard and putting in the work on and off the field so I can succeed."
Several players on the West Indies tour of Bangladesh were given the opportunity because 12 players declined to tour owing to covid19, personal fears or personal reasons. Shane Dowrich, who has been the first-choice West Indies wicketkeeper for years, opted not to travel, because of personal reasons, which gave Da Silva the opportunity.
Asked if he thinks he has cemented his place on the team, Da Silva said, "I am controlling what I could control – scoring runs, wicket-keeping well (and) working on my fitness etcetera. If I am selected for the next series I will definitely put my best foot forward and always give 110 per cent for the team."
West Indies were not thought to have much of a prospect of defeating Bangladesh. Da Silva said winning was always on the team's mind.
"We came to Bangladesh to play cricket and we all know that we are a strong team and we are not coming here just to play cricket, we coming here to win. The result was what we came here for. We did not think of what people were saying...we just wanted to go out there, put our best foot forward and give 110 per cent and play cricket as we know and we came out with the victory, thankfully."
The post Da Silva hails historic win: My best moment in cricket appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.