00:00He was the leading wicket-taker in the last West Indies four-day championship, boasting 41 wickets at a miserly average of under 14.
00:08Yet for Kari Peir, his maiden West Indies test call-up is the realisation of a dream for the 34-year-old left-arm spinner.
00:16I dreamt about playing test cricket when I was younger.
00:18And, you know, I think as a cricketer, there's no other version of the game that they want to play than test cricket.
00:25And it's a great honour for me, actually, to play, to make my debut, to get the first call and, you know, hopefully make my debut.
00:34And as I said before, it's just a great honour, you know, to represent the people of the West Indies.
00:39And I would always want to, you know, represent that badge.
00:43And I just want to, you know, to be, that feeling to be happy, you know, and for my family, you know, it's a great honour.
00:49But it was always a distant dream for the TNT player, as he had to work doubly hard to impress and get the attention of the selectors.
00:57I would say I was not in the system, you know, there's the youth level going up from under 15, under 17, under 19, you know.
01:05And I was in all these things, so I made my day fortunate on that.
01:08And, you know, it was, you know, it was tough, it was tough, you know, but I never gave up.
01:12So, just putting, you know, the extra work, I always tend to want to do more, I always want to do more.
01:19Even after practice, you know, blow more balls, hit more balls, you know, and I was always saying, you know, hard work, be talented, and feel to work hard.
01:27So, you know, I always take that, you know, and put it towards my game.
01:30With Gudakesh Moti rested for this tour, Kari Pei has an opportunity as the second spinner in the squad.
01:36And should he crack into the final 11, he spoke of the qualities he can bring to the team.
01:41I would say, you know, control, consistency, and just try to stay in front of the batsman as much as possible, you know, variations, you know, using the crease, stuff like that, just trying to outfox the batsman.
01:54I think that is the aim of any spinner, try to outfox the batsman, use angles and stuff like that.
02:01Despite toiling for his dream chance, Kari Pei is placing team success over personal goals.
02:07I just want to help the team win.
02:09I think whatever role I have to play in the team, I want to do it to the best of my ability.
02:15And I'm going to go there, I'm going to give out 10% as I said before, no matter what team I play for.
02:20And yeah, whatever role the team wants me to play, I'm just going to do it to the best of my ability.
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