Will the real Shimron Hetmyer please stand up?

Shimron Hetmyer in West Indies' colours

Shimron Hetmyer isn’t just a batsman. He’s a warped talent. And that’s just him. He doesn’t and will not try to be someone else. 

It’s not his DNA. 

He can both- give heartache to bowlers and to his own team- and do so, in the space of a single inning. 

On a single day in a Test match he can find different ways to hit a spinner out of the ground and succeed. Yet, when not, he can manufacture ways of getting out. 

If there’s one - among the many instances - where he’s proven himself as special and strange at the same time, then it’s worth your while to think about the Mis-You series. 

When he debuted against Pakistan, circa the 2017 Caribbean summer, in a format where today he cannot even be found, he was the only batsman who stepped out to Yasir Shah.

That’s when Yasir Shah was the pick of the bowlers having clinched eight in West Indian twenty wickets. 

During his first inning outing, Hetmyer struck 2 fours on his way to a forgettable 11 and next up, danced down the track to Yasir Shah as he stroked a huge six over cover during his second inning score of 20. 

He felt no pressure; instead gave Pakistan some. 

For the cricket tragic who lives in the yesterday, the sight of Shimron Hetmyer not wearing a cap, let alone helmet, bending on his knees and executing those big heaves down the ground brought back captivating memories. 

But it didn’t help his team’s cause. 

For there’s a mighty important lesson that the likes of Shimron Hetmyer may want to learn perhaps from the Viv’s and Lara’s. 

And maybe it’s that flair and exuberance are second to mindfulness and application. 

Today, even as there are such classy characters such as Shai Hope, Kraigg Brathwaite, Nicholas Pooran or Alzarri Joseph and Jason Holder around, the truth is that the West Indies haven’t quite turned around a corner. 

And maybe the younger generation of which Hetmyer, who’s just turned 26 is a part, needs to prioritise staying at the wicket instead of finding ways of getting out. 

For the fact is that Sir Viv wasn’t about “Swag” but his ability to connect the ball with the middle of the bat. The swag part that made the inimitable Antiguan a king came later. What would you, the fan, do with Sir Viv’s swag if he didn’t stay long enough at the wicket?

What would, for instance, the lover of artsy batting do with Lara’s backlift if the Prince of Trinidad didn’t score those big scores?

That the left hander was able to bat for long hours and thus, essay his indescribable love for batting is what endeared us to him- did it not?

Why can’t Shimron Hetmyer- brave batsman, Guyana’s favourite son- take a clue from the previous generation is something that should perturb the Caribbean fan maybe more than worrying about what Windies player was sold for what amount in the IPL auctions.  

But that it doesn’t seem to be happening perhaps explains the way things have changed in the West Indies. 

Surely, Hetmyer’s capable and there’s little sense in doubting his potential. 

Why would you anyway for this is a batter who scores either a fifty or a century in every fifth one day outing. 

Many may have given it much thought but that doesn’t change the reality that the Berbice-born is amongst the few in white ball cricket who have scored more centuries than fifties. 

Hetmyer has scored centuries in the West Indies as well as against their biggest nemesis- India and scored five already from just 47 innings. 

Which both brings us to question where might he end up should he apply himself more and just why isn’t he, if he’s not? 

For a batsman who holds the talent of changing the fate of a battle at one insane stroke of daring, the current ODI average of 35 does great disservice to Hetmyer. 

That many already fancied the exuberant “Hit-myer” analogy of is understandable but not very intelligent- is it? 

Surely, Hetmyer can hit his way out of pressure and rescue his side. 

But how’s he not in the Test side and not yet a match winner in T20I’s must form his next big chapter in international cricket. 

Surely, performing well in the CPL will do him some good and increase his confidence. But isn’t it true that what we need from him are more knocks of the likes of that incredibly undersung inning against the BlackCaps in the 2019 World Cup?

Perhaps we’ve confidently forgotten that the very evening where Carlos Brathwaite reminded us all why we ought to remember his name, it was Shimron Hetmyer’s 54 off just 45 amid pressure that changed the game.

A 23-year-old was lifting Lockie Ferguson over cover and whacking Boult over mid wicket for boundaries was perhaps the most fitting sight at Old Trafford. 

But here’s the thing. Just how often has Hetmyer, fondly remembered for his 139 off just 106 at Chennai that steamrolled India in India in 2019, done that? 

There are two Hetmyers that reside in one body. One among them is really passionate. And the other is the guy who doesn’t hold himself back on the crease. 

Let’s just hope that the day the two can find the right balance and come together to lift the West Indies. 

Until then, the real lover of the sport will rally!