West Indies' star wicket-keeper batsman Shai Hope celebrates his 27th birthday on Tuesday (November 10). Touted as the next big thing in World cricket, Hope is a technically-sound batsman and a reliable wicket-keeper. Unlike most of the modern-day Caribbean batsmen, the youngster isn't one of the biggest hitters of the ball but relies on his timing and placement to torment the bowlers. He faced a lot of criticism for his slow-paced batting earlier in his career. However, Hope worked on his game and emerged as the cornerstone of the West Indies' batting line-up in white-ball cricket. Shai Hope Surpasses Babar Azam to Become Fastest Batsman to Score 1000 ODI Runs in Asia.

Making his international debut in May 2015, Hope had the onus of providing stability to West Indies' fragile batting line-up. Although he didn't really burst onto the scenes straightaway, his consistent performances impressed one and all. Hope created a stir in World Cricket after scoring twin Test centuries in Leeds, guiding West Indies' to a famous five-wicket triumph. The youngster didn't look back after that and played several impressive knocks. Although his form in Test cricket has been underwhelming lately, he has been delivering consistently in limited-overs cricket. As the Caribbean sensation turns a year older, let's look at some quick facts about him. Shai Hope and John Campbell Register Highest Opening Partnership in ODIs.

  1. Shai Hope was born on November 10, 1993, in Barbados.

  2. He won Men's Cricketer of the Year, Test Cricketer of the Year and the ODI Cricketer of the Year awards at the annual Cricket West Indies' Awards.

  3. His elder brother, Kyle Hope also plays for West Indies in Tests, and ODIs.

  4. He is the fastest West Indies batsman to score 2000 ODI runs, achieving the feat in his 47th innings.

  5. Shai Hope and John Campbell added 365 runs for the first wicket against Ireland in 2019, second-highest partnership in ODIs.

  6. Hope was the third-highest run-scorer in ODIs in 2019.

  7. Shai Hope is the fastest batsman to score 1000 ODI runs in Asia.

  8. The batsman scored twin centuries against England in 2017.

Meanwhile, Hope has been dropped from West Indies Test team for the tour of New Zealand owing to his dismal performance against England. Nevertheless, Cricket West Indies chief selector Roger Harper believes that the right-handed batsman will have a great career in the longest format of the game.

"Shai is a player who I think has a tremendous future in Test cricket but at the moment he needs to reorganize his Test match game and get his batting in the longest version, back to its best," said Harper.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 10, 2020 08:00 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).