The Indians would have breathed a sigh of relief when the West Indies announced their playing XI for the first T20I in USA, having seen the exclusion of Chris Gayle. Had they done their research, they would have known that Chris’ replacement on the day, 24 year old Evin Lewis packed a punch as well.
Now, known to the masses, Evin Lewis is an aggressive left-handed batsman who likes to bat at the top of the order. He is the younger of two brothers, who were raised in the town of Rio Carlo, in the southeast of Trinidad and Tobago. He was introduced to the game at a very early age and represented his school’s cricket team.
Since then, he made his way up the ranks, representing a number of teams along the way. He was part of the U-19 Championship winning Trinidad and Tobago side, a side he has represented since 2012. He has also played for the Trinidad and Tobago Red Steel, St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots and the Barisal Bulls, a side in the Bangladesh Premier League.
On the day, when he replaced Chris Gayle in the T20I squad against, he scored his maiden T20I century in only his 3rd ever T20I. He destroyed the Indian bowling line-up, sparing nobody and reserving special punishment for Stuart Binny, scoring 5 sixes in an over against the bowler.
He certainly seems to have a bright future ahead of him, and performances like his century against India will only help cement his place in the squad. As he look to work himself into a more permanent role in the West Indies side, we list down 5 interesting things about the cricketer:
1) Chris Gayle is his mentor
Surprise, surprise. The 24 year old looked up to the mercurial Jamaican growing up and modeled his batting around Gayle’s. His century against India would have had a more special place in his heart, considering the fact that Gayle was his role-model and he replaced him in the squad that day. The fact that Gayle seemed to absolutely enjoy his batting would have thrilled the 24 year old.
At first sight, the two batsmen do share similar styles and Evil Lewis certainly has the power to match up to Gayle one day. “I hit a lot of sixes, big sixes like him.” Lewis was quoted as saying once, talking about his mentor Gayle.
Evin Lewis also looked upto Brian Lara while growing up.
2) His T20, List A and First-Class centuries came after Trinidad and Tobago cancelled his domestic contract
It is no secret that the West Indies Cricket Board is in shambles. This is indicative of the fact that the various state bodies like the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board are also not run very professionally. For reasons best known to the board, they cancelled Evin Lewis’ domestic contract.
That only seemed to spur Lewis on as he went on to record his List A, First-Class and T20 centuries in quick succession after. He now has a T20 International century to boast about as well.
3) Scored the only century in the inaugral Bangladesh Premier League
Evin Lewis was drafted into the Barisal Bulls for the inaugral season of the Bangladesh Premier League in 2015. In a match against the Dhaka Dynamites, Evin Lewis was in terrific form and he went on to post an unbeaten 101 off 65 balls.
That proved the be the only century in the entire BPL campaign.
4) Highest run-scorer for the Trinidad & Tobago side in the 2013 Champions League T20
Evin Lewis made his mark on the international stage with his performances in the 2013 Champions League T20 in India for his franchise Trinidad & Tobago. In his side’s run to the semi-finals, Lewis was exceptional throughout, scoring a total of 211 runs from 5 innings.
His two stand out performances came against the Titans cricket team and the Mumbai Indians, having scored 62 against the latter in the semi-finals.
5) Was named cricketer of the year in 2008
In the PowerGen Secondary Schools Cricket League, he recorded three consecutive centuries for his side, the Princes Town Senior Comprehensive. Later that year, he would make his debut match for Trinidad & Tobago, scoring a mercurial 140 on debut.
On the back of performances like this, he was named as ‘cricketer of the year’ in 2008 by the Trinidad & Tobago Cricket Board.
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