Trinidad and Tobago leg-spinner Navin Bidaisee is hoping his stint with the T&T Legions for the upcoming West Indies Breakout T20 League will open doors to more opportunities in the game. The former T&T Under-19 captain--also a capable batter-- views his selection as an important step in his cricketing journey and is eager to make an impact in Breakout League, set to be played in Trinidad from April 25 to May 10. The West Indies Breakout League is a premier T20 cricket tournament designed to spotlight emerging talent from across the Caribbean. As per tournament regulations, each team is allowed to protect seven players, one of whom must be a leg spinner. Bidaisee was the leg-spinner selected by the Legions. Speaking about his inclusion in the Legions squad, Bidaisee said: “It is a blessing, so thank God for that.” “It is a great feeling to be part of this squad, and I must thank my parents for giving me that foundation to come out here and do what I have to do,” he continued. The 24-year-old understands the value of his role in the team and is aiming to contribute effectively. “Bowling leg-spin, hopefully, I will get crucial wickets and contribute to the batting as well.” Bidaisee also sees his inclusion in the T&T Legions squad as an important step forward in his career. “This is definitely a stepping stone for me in my career. Being contracted now, I am slowly making my way into teams and into the (national) team setup. So, this is a good step in the right direction.” Bidaisee earned his first T&T Red Force call-up last year but did not make the starting XI. However, he did play List A cricket for the Combined Campuses and Colleges and was also picked on the West Indies Select XI that faced Bangladesh in a two-day warm-up game during their tour of the Caribbean late last year. His emergence also comes at a time when West Indies head coach Daren Sammy has stressed the importance of quality wrist spinners in T20 cricket. Sammy noted that many of the world’s top T20 teams have a wrist spinner as a key component of their bowling attack. “Akeal Hosein, number one bowler (in the world), but his role is so different from the traditional spinners. He is more or less (bowling) in the powerplay. Motie has been very consistent for us, however, I would love to have the services of a wrist spinner. Whether it be left-arm wrist spin (or) leg spin,” Sammy explained. He said that successful T20 sides such as India, South Africa, Australia, and England have all relied on wrist spinners to make an impact. “We’ve seen that they have been so effective (with) India winning the World Cup here in the Caribbean (last year with) Kuldeep Yadav, South Africa getting (Tabraiz) Shamsi, Australia Adam Zampa (and) England Adil Rashid. All of these guys seem to impact the game on the winning side, and we are yet to produce this.” Cricket West Indies (CWI) has been making a concerted effort to develop spinners and improve batsmen’s ability to play against spin. In January, CWI hosted a specialised high-performance camp focusing on both spin bowling and batting against spin. Bidaisee was part of that spin camp, along with fellow T&T spinners Ryan Bandoo, Bryan Charles, Yannic Cariah and Avinash Mahabirsingh. Among the batters selected for the camp was T&T’s Justin Jaggasar. T&T LEGIONS: Kamil Pooran, Amir Jangoo, Jyd Goolie, Crystian Thurton, Navin Bidaisee, Mikkel Govia, Joshua James, Joshua Da Silva, McKenny Clarke, Cephas Cooper, Damien Joachim, Shaaron Lewis, Abdul-Raheem Toppin, Johann Layne.