Alzarri Joseph (Cricketer)

Some Lesser Known Facts About Alzarri Joseph

•  Alzarri Joseph is a popular cricketer from Antigua in West Indies. He is a right arm fast bowler and had led the West Indies team to win the Under-19 Cricket World Cup in 2016, for which he was also awarded the Man of the Match trophy. He was selected in the 2019 Indian Premier League (IPL) under the Mumbai Indians franchise.

• He was good at bowling since he was a child. His father, Alva Joseph, member of the Leeward Islands Cricket Club, encouraged him to get into the sport and often used to take him to practice among experienced players. He took him to Taddy Arrindell, a senior player of the Leeward Club, who told Alva that his kid is a natural and Alzarri will grow tremendously in the sport if he began to bowl fast.

• Joseph gives credit of his success to Winston Benjamin, a former cricketer from West Indies, who taught him how to bowl and altered his bowling action, which made him patient and more focused while bowling.

  

• Alzarri made his first-class debut in 2014 for his domestic team St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in the 2014-2015 Regional Four Day Competition. He played with renowned players of the West Indies and scored his maiden first-class 5 wicket haul in the series, opening the bowling with Gavin Tonge. He played his career best of 7/49 against Guyana in the same series, which helped him being noticed by the West Indies Cricket Board (CWI).

  

• In 2015, he was selected for the Under-19 World Cup squad of the West Indies.  He took 13 wickets in 6 matches and was the leading wicket-taker for the West Indies and the third overall. His best performance of 4/30 in this series against Zimbabwe led him to be the Man of the Match. He was also the quickest bowler of the 2015 Under-19 World Cup. This performance led him to be selected in the West Indies National Team.

• In 2016, Alzarri was selected for the West Indies Test team and he was inducted into the team by Joel Garner, a former West Indies cricketer, who handed him the official cap right before the match, and then he made his debut against India. He started out in the third match of the series in which he took 3 wickets in the first innings.

• On 2 October 2016, Alzarri made his One Day International (ODI) debut against Pakistan for the second ODI of the series; taking two wickets in 10 overs.

  

• In December 2017, he suffered from a stress fracture during the tour of New Zealand in his back and was put on bed rest post surgery. After 7 months, he returned to play for West Indies against Bangladesh, but after a few matches for the national team and St Kitts and Nevis Patriots, he was put on bed rest by recommendation of the Medical Panel of the West Indies so that he can return after being fully fit for international cricket.

• In October 2018, he was awarded a contract by the West Indies Cricket Board (CWI) for all formats of cricket for the 2018-19 session.

• In early 2019, in the middle of a match against England, he received news that his mother, Sharon Joseph, had passed away. After being given the news of his mother’s death, he completed the day’s game, and only then he went on home to mourn his mother. To everyone’s surprise, he returned the next day to play the rest of the match as he wanted to fulfil his duty towards his country.

  

• In 2019, he was selected by the IPL franchise Mumbai Indians, as a replacement for their injured player Adam Milne. Alzarri was retained on the same contract as of Adam Milne; as a replacement player cannot exceed the amount that was being paid to the original player.

• In his debut match in the IPL against the Sunrisers Hyderabad, he bowled the best bowling figure ever in the history of the IPL by taking 6 wickets and giving just 12 runs (6/12), surpassing Sohail Tanveer’s record of having the best bowling figure (6/14) since the past 11 years.

  

• On 19 December 2023, Alzarri Joseph was sold to Royal Challengers Bangalore in the 2024 IPL Auction, held at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai, for a fee of Rs. 11.50 crore.