Tarouba – West Indies captain Nicholas Pooran stressed on Thursday the importance of his side winning the five-match Twenty20 International series against India, as they attempt to bounce back from whitewashes in the One-day International format.
The Windies face India in the first match on Friday at the Brian Lara Cricket Ground in south Trinidad that will be hosting its first men’s international match.
The Caribbean side have lost their last four T20I series against India and have only beaten the Asian powerhouses once in their last 12 meetings on bilateral tours.
Pooran said even though West Indies produced solid performances in the past, those had not translated into series wins, and he hoped his side could alter the trend over the next several days.
“I guess the guys are always up for the challenge against India,” Pooran said during a virtual news conference. “They obviously want to show the world what they’re made of as well.
“Unfortunately, we haven’t been getting series wins and that’s something we want to happen.
“We just don’t want to perform as players and the team is still losing. so looking at this series here, the only thing on our minds is finding a way to be successful.”
West Indies are coming off two successive 0-3 drubbings in the ODI format after losing to Bangladesh in Guyana and to India at Queen’s Park Oval in the Trinidad & Tobago capital.
For as much as the T20I format has been long regarded as the strong suit for the Windies, they have only won nine of their last 23 matches inside the past 12 months.
Pooran said it was critical that his side executed in all areas if they were to turn around recent results.
“We definitely want to continue working on getting wickets with the new ball, bowling at the death and from a batting perspective continue to utilise that Power Play and form partnerships that can win us games,” he said.
“In order for a team to be successful … everyone must contribute. Players can have wonderful performances and win games for you, but I don’t think we’re all about that.”
He added: “Yes, T20I is a shorter format of the game. It’s easier for guys to contribute, and we as a team need to understand that not every game it’s going to be the same individual that’s going to step up. The other guys obviously need to chip in and play their part.
“I think so far in the first two T20Is (against Bangladesh) we started well. We had that one person standing out with the bat, but the other guys chipping in – even with the ball as well.”
After playing the first T20I in Trinidad, the two teams travel to St Kitts for the next two matches on August 1 and 2 at Warner Park, and wrap up the series on August 6 and 7 at the Central Broward Regional Stadium in the United States.
Squads:
West Indies (from): Nicholas Pooran (captain), Rovman Powell (vice-captain), Shamarh Brooks, Dominic Drakes, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Brandon King, Kyle Mayers, Obed McCoy, Keemo Paul, Romario Shepherd, Odean Smith, Devon Thomas, Hayden Walsh Jr.
India (from): Rohit Sharma (captain), Ishan Kishan, K.L. Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Shreyas Iyer, Dinesh Karthik, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Avesh Khan, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh.
(CMC)