West Indies captain Rovman Powell shared that he is happy to see they are in third place on the ICC T20I team rankings ahead of their clash against Afghanistan on June 18, Tuesday. The 2-time champions were under the scanner some time ago and needed a revival as they had missed the ODI World Cup last year and the T20 World Cup in 2022 as well.

Speaking ahead of their Group C clash with Afghanistan, Powell said, “I think pressure is always there, especially when you’re at home, especially when you’re playing a World Cup at home. Pressure is always there, but it’s for us as individuals to manage those pressures. And I think for me as captain, when I started this journey 12 or 14 months ago, when I took over as captain, we were at eight or nine in the ranking.”

“To see us at number three now in the world is a pleasing feeling. And it shows that not just myself, but the players are coming together and we’re doing something right. I’ve never played in a West Indies team that is ranked number three in the world. So that for me is something special and hopefully, just hopefully, we can continue to climb those rankings,” again said Powell at the press conference.

However, West Indies and Afghanistan have been dominant in their group and Powell said that their opponents on Tuesday have a lot of match-winners in their group as well.

“Obviously, it’s a top of the table clash. Afghanistan have been playing good T20 cricket and consistent T20 cricket. They have a lot of match winners. So, it’s something that we have to come with our best game. As I said before, they’re playing good T20 cricket. So, it’s an opportunity for us to play against another world class side. Very good practice going into the Super 8 games,” concluded Rovman Powell.