West Indies aiming to build for T20 World Cup in 2020

Playing for pride

– Head Coach Reifer

India and the West Indies will meet for a monumental third T20 International match at the National Stadium at Providence today, August 6, 2019, from 10:30 hours local time.

Team India have already won the three-match series 2-0, and are likely to experiment with their young players who performed at the IPL in 2019.
On eve of this international match, West Indies Head Coach Floyd Reifer has disclosed that this encounter is significant because the Caribbean team is building for the T20 World Cup.
Addressing the media at the Pegasus International Hotel yesterday, Reifer noted that the West Indies team’s performance has not been of the best standard.
“Fabian Allen has come into the side which we are building for the World Cup in Australia, and we are looking to expose some more talents”, Reifer highlighted.
Reifer noted that the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) would also be used as a yardstick for selection of the T20 International team.

He shared a positive assessment of Kieron Pollard and Sunil Narine’s experience in the dressing room, which has been vital on and off the field. Moreover, Reifer spoke of the West Indies team lacking consistency since the 2016 World Cup, losing matches in bundles.
“The team will be aiming to develop a formula for winning matches on a consistent basis,” Reifer disclosed.
Newcomer Anthony Bramble has been putting in the work, Reifer said, adding that Keemo Paul has a bright future. Guyanese wicket-keeper Bramble has not yet played a match in the series, but his presence in the third and final match would excite Guyanese supporters.
“I think Paul has a bright future. He has all the attributes to become a great all-rounder, and he is one of the fittest players in the team”, Reifer noted.
Neither team looked keen on making changes during the second match on Sunday, but that would likely change.

While looking to next year’s World Cup – 14 months away – is not plausible, West Indies captain Carlos Brathwaite did hint towards long-term planning during the toss, and as such may be looking to bring even more young talent into the fray before they move to the next series.
There is also a five-match losing streak to snap. For India, there is the chance to reward some of the IPL’s most consistent players in what is essentially a dead rubber. In a system brimming with competition for places, a more convenient time would likely not be found.
Shimron Hetmyer batted at No. 5 for a duck in the first game, and came in at No. 6 before the players went off in the second. At home in Guyana, West Indies could look to push him higher up the order, and have the kind of impact he had in the limited overs’ leg of the India tour last year. They’ve had two different number 4 players in the first two games, so it is not out of the question.
India will be impressed by Krunal Pandya’s integration into the senior team. The last four series in which he has played have all been in different countries, and he has produced notable performances in each of them.

However, even within that small sample size, he’s shown the tendency to follow up good performances with middling ones. With the form he showed with both bat and ball on Sunday, he has the opportunity to close out the series on a high.
West Indies will be fairly happy with their bowling performances over the two matches, and the batting has improved vastly from the sub-100 efforts in the first match. They’ll be tempted to name a few changes in the top order to build on that.
Thunderstorms are forecasted for Georgetown, Guyana just before start of play, so there will not be much change in terms of potential sluggishness in the pitch. It obtained in Florida, and could obtain again on Tuesday. Having won five of their first seven completed T20I matches against India, West Indies have failed to win in the last five, dating back to July 2017.
Rishabh Pant also hasn’t made a limited overs’ 50 for India across formats in his last six innings.