Khan: Jason’s hard work paying off

Mohammed, who made his ODI debut in 2011, has yet to cement his place on the West Indies team, but has been the regional team’s top batsman against England thus far. The 30-year-old Mohammed, who plays with Powergen in the National League, struck 72 in the first ODI on Friday, followed by 50 in the second match on Sunday.

Unfortunately, Mohammed’s form has not been able to help West Indies achieve positive results. England won the first ODI by 45 runs, before sealing the three-match series with a four-wicket win in the second ODI.

Mohammed earned selection for the England series after an impressive effort in the Regional Super50 tournament, which concluded last month. The right-hander was the fifth highest run scorer in the competition with 375 runs at an average of 62.50. His highest score in the tournament was 84. Kieran Powell of the Leeward Islands Hurricanes was the top scorer with 513 runs at an average of 64.12.

Khan, who has spent a lot of time with Mohammed as the former manager of the TT team, is elated that he is grabbing the opportunity.

Khan said, “I am very happy that he has gotten on to the team, and more importantly scoring runs. What he has to do now is to transfer those scores into big ones, he has to carry on and go on and get hundreds.

“He was unlucky to get run out in the first ODI, but yesterday (Sunday) I thought he could have batted on, because at the end of the day West Indies still did not bat out their 50 overs, which is a basic plan in any limited overs game.” Khan credited Mohammed’s work ethic and a solid technique for his rich run of form recently. “Jason has always been someone who is willing to learn, he has always been a hard worker, he has a good work ethic.

Powergen now has indoor nets, and he will go down there and get someone to bowl at him for hours, just to get his batting technique right.” Khan added, “Over the last year or so, he has been having some issues with his technique, and he has been working on it and I am very happy to see that he has now been able to work out his issues.” The former West Indies manager said that one of Mohammed’s challenges was a lack of confidence. Khan, who served as Mohammed’s manager on the Guyana Amazon Warriors in the 2016 Caribbean Premier League, said giving Mohammed a permanent spot on the team boosted his confidence.

“We gave him that confidence (with the Guyana Amazon Warriors). We told him you are now in the team and you don’t have to worry if you play or not, you will be a permanent fixture on the team. We gave him the responsibility of holding down that number four batting position, we built that confidence in him.” Mohammed had a brilliant 2016 CPL season, helping the Amazon Warriors reach the final once again. The batsman finished 10th on the scoring chart with 287 runs, but finished with the best average among the top ten batsmen with 47.83. He had a top score of 57 not out and recorded six not outs in the tournament.

Khan said Mohammed’s family has also played an instrumental part in his success. “His family is very supportive of him, his dad has been one of his biggest supporters.”