Of East Indian descent, Ravi Rampaul is tall, strong, and well-built. He first sprung to notice at the World Under-15 Challenge in England in 2000, and after some excellent performances in youth cricket, he made his Trinidad & Tobago debut in 2002, playing twice.

In 2003 he took 18 wickets in six matches, and then some impressive performances for West Indies Under-19s propelled him to the verge of international selection. He grabbed a few wickets, but it was his aggression that caught the eye: against Antigua & Barbuda he unleashed four successive bouncers at the opener and finished him off with an unplayable yorker.