West Indies speedster Oshane Thomas is excited about life before playing what will be his very first World Cup in UK this summer. The 22-year-old, with only nine ODIs behind him, is among the four specialist pacers that the Calypso Kings have travelled with for the quadrennial event. And that is telling to reflect the astonishing rise which he has had at this level.
"I'm looking forward to helping my team to go as far as possible," Thomas told ESPNcricinfo. "Setting some goals also, like finishing in the top five wicket-takers. Very excited. First World Cup, can't wait."
Thomas's gameplan for the World Cup is quite simple. He wishes to get batsmen out doing the basics right, and if that doesn't work, the fact that he can scare them away with pace and hostility can surely help.
"I make the ball do the work. Other fast bowlers might be really pumped up and go in the batsman's face, but that's not me. I'll bowl and turn back to my mark."
"But at times you have batsmen that are really scared. Some wickets are fast and bouncy, and you can see it in the batter's eye that he's scared, but because cricket is his job, he won't show it. He will stand up and fight. He wouldn't like anyone to see him running," he added.
"When I look in a batsman's eyes, eye to eye, and I see he's scared, it'll pump me up to bowl even faster. I mean, if you're scared, I have the advantage, so most likely I'll win the battle."
Having first burst into the limelight with wonderful performances at the domestic level and in the 2018 Caribbean Premier League (CPL), Thomas received a maiden international call-up for the limited-overs leg of West Indies' tour of India later in the year.
"In 2018, I was on top of my game in the CPL, picking up wickets like crazy every game," he said. "I couldn't do anything wrong at that point. Then coming to India and getting Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit [Sharma] out in the same over [on T20I debut] was a great moment for me as well. Two great batsmen for India… then bowling to Virat Kohli. I should have gotten him out for a duck."
Thomas showed great promise with the ball there, and then a couple of months later, picked up a five-wicket haul versus England at St Lucia. That must have impressed the selectors a lot as it came up against one of the most feared contemporary ODI batting line-ups in the world.
"It came pretty quick. In five overs. It was a really great day for me. I probably could have got more in the game, though, to be honest. I was bowling up the hill and I told the captain that if I go on the other side, I'd have probably got six or seven. He told me to bowl two or three overs from that end [up the hill] first. So I bowled three from there and I got one [3-0-16-1]."
"But it was a struggle coming up the hill. Plus with the breeze, my pace was cut and everything. But as soon as I got on the other side, I bowled two overs and got four wickets [2.1-0-5-4]. The wicket was bouncy, so I knew I could get the better of them, and I wanted the ball from the other side."
On the back of his impressive performances in India, Thomas was roped in by franchise Rajasthan Royals (RR) for this year's Indian Premier League. He played four games, picked up five wickets at an economy rate of 7.90 in IPL 2019.
"When I made my debut here in India, Rajasthan Royals called me over for a trial in Mumbai, so I met with most of the guys. I played a practice game, and so I knew at the back of my mind they would have probably had me in their line-up at the auctions."
"I'm really thankful for the opportunity, because I always wanted to play in the IPL. Great feeling. Everyone shows me love here - it's really like a family. I love it man," Thomas concluded.
