West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite shared his views ahead of the second Test. Notably, they lost in their first Test against England as well where they were bowled out for 121 and 136 and Brathwaite hoped that his batters can do well in the second Test as well.
“It’s pretty simple what we’ve got to do. We’ve got to bat a lot better. Obviously we’ve got to find a way… we’ve had some discussions around different things we can do better as a team. There are still a bit of positives with the bat. With the ball, as I said before, [we gave away] 50-60 runs too many but it was a positive to get 10 wickets. But with the bat, we’ve just got to put runs on the board. It’s simple,” he added.
“A few guys did get in and didn’t go on. It’s just important that you go on for longer. Because the longer you bat, the easier it becomes and it’s important to stay in that plan for as long as possible. Obviously you want to put away bad balls, that’s what everybody wants to do. But it’s that hard work that you do for 40 minutes, being able to take that to an hour, two hours. And it is a balance, a mixture of putting away the bad balls, because when you put away the bad balls it gives them confidence. We just got to keep learning. You know, I think a lot of learning would have taken place in the first Test and you’ve just got to believe in our ability and do it and aim to do it for longer periods,” he again shared.
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Kraigg Brathwaite had scored 6 and 4 in the first Test, something which hurt the West Indies batting which is a very inexperienced batting unit.
“I know what I have to do and it’s obviously important to lead this team and lead the batting,” Brathwaite said. “Just to build this foundation is obviously what I’m focusing on and obviously that always puts us in a better position to score big runs. I enjoy captaining, I enjoy leading. I’ve been opening my whole life, so when I go there to bat, for me, it’s always to see off that new ball, and be there as long as [I] can. That’s always my focus, so I don’t see it as any added pressure. Yes, you know, at times you don’t get runs and it could be a little bit tough but it’s just important to stay mentally tough and keep believing.”
However, Brathwaite wasn’t ready to be drawn too much into the first defeat and looked ahead to a fresh start in Nottingham as well. And, they will try to bounce back.
“What’s gone is gone. The first defeat is gone,” he said. “The preparation period is gone. I think the guys are in very good spirits. Mentally it’s really important to believe in yourself. Guys are ready to go. I think from a belief point of view, it [Gabba win] shows that we could get it done after a loss, albeit in different conditions. It was months ago but yes, we could take a bit from that. But the main thing is just having that belief in yourself.”
“We have motivation, we got to be better than in the first Test. As you know, the batsmen [have] obviously got to put runs on the board, and that’s our focus. I think once we remain disciplined, session by session, build partnerships that will put us in a good position, you know, and the overall result of the game,” Kraigg Brathwaite concluded.
