As most of their senior players are not involving in the three-match T20I series against the hosts India, starting from Sunday (November 4), the Windies T20I skipper Carlos Brathwaite is focusing to build a good new-looking side to defend their second World T20 title in the next World T20 tournament in Australia that will be played in October-November 2020.
The Windies team hasn’t performed well in this year’s T20I cricket too as they have won only two matches out of nine T20Is (lost six and one was no result) in 2018. However, Brathwaite is confident on his T20I side as he believes that they had some close encounters in recent T20I matches.
Before the first T20I against India at Eden Gardens (Kolkata), the Windies skipper Brathwaite said, “We don’t think the team has changed just because we did not win [in 2018]. As we can see with the Indian team, the IPL stars are picked because of good IPL performances. I think all young guys in our team merited selection with their performances in the CPL. So there’s a message that if you perform well, you’ll get selected.
“And as such, that also broadens our pool of players before going into the Twenty20 World Cup. We had a couple of close games against Bangladesh [in Miami] which we ended on the wrong side of, two games that we lost and eventually lost the series. But I don’t think we played poor cricket, and we needed to make wholesale changes. I’m definitely not saying the guys who aren’t here are being dropped; it’s more a chance to give young players the opportunity and to reward them with selection for their performance in the CPL.”
While most of their famous senior players are not in this series, Brathwaite feels that it is the perfect time to build up a balanced side again that can compete in 2020 World T20. The Windies T20I captain also claimed that they will not only observe the skills, also they will focus on the temperaments of the players.
Brathwaite said, “I think we’ve been blessed in the past to have Chris Gayles, Dwayne Bravos, Sunil Narines and all… But we’ve reached a stage where those guys have come to the fag end of their careers and we have to sort of find the next generation. On these next two tours (India and Bangladesh) – one, to play in subcontinental conditions and two, the quality of players that both these teams have – I think is perfect opportunity to see what these younger guys are made of. Not only skill-wise but [also] the temperament, seeing how they handle testing situations.
“So, I don’t think it is much about who isn’t here. This is more of seeing as a challenge. And the challenge being young guys just out of CPL being thrown into the fray. Some may say even before they’re ready. But it’s a perfect opportunity to play some of the best players in the world and showcase their skill and temperament and take that challenge head on.
“For me personally this is a lead up to the 2020 World Cup. I hope to be leading the team out there, and we hope that we can use every series between now and then to try and get the right balance. We want to establish a brand of cricket we want to play whether home or abroad. My focus is series by series leading up to the 2020 World Cup in Australia.”
Windies has a superior record against India in T20I as they have won five games and lost only twice. Even though the Indian skipper Virat Kohli and the experienced wicketkeeper-batsman MS Dhoni are not available in this T20I series, Brathwaite believes that the Indian team still has enough strength and quality to beat any strong T20I side. Despite saying the hosts are the favourite for the T20I series, the Windies skipper believes that they have the ability to make a bigger surprise by winning this away series.
Brathwaite commented on this, “Obviously without Kohli and Dhoni [playing],any team has a better chance. That being said, they have loads of experience and quality. We’ve seen the likes of [KL] Rahul and [Rishabh] Pant in the IPL, so we know what they can do. We won’t be disrespecting them or take them lightly just because they are missing those two.”
“India at home in any format (are) very formidable. Especially with the advent of IPL and the amount of T20 cricket that the Indian superstars play, I think they definitely start as favourites. Yes, we are not accustomed to the underdogs tag but we are going to take it this time around. But it’s not something that we are ashamed of really.
“We have a new team, young exciting team and our CPL stars are young and are raring to go. Some of them had a taste of it in the ODIs and I personally think we did a lot better than what a lot of people expected in the ODI format. We want to create an even bigger surprise in the T20s and come away with the trophy at the end of the series.”
