West Indies lock horns with South Africa in electrifying T20I series

– Hetmyer not in 13-man squad

With the stage set in St George’s Grenada, defending World T20 champions West Indies will lock horns with South Africa today (Saturday June 26) from 14:00h Eastern Caribbean time in the five-match T20I series.
On the eve of what is anticipated to be a scintillating series, West Indies captain Kieron Pollard has said his experienced unit is very confident of itself in playing against the familiar South Africa team. South Africa are ranked higher than the West Indies in this format of the game, but Pollard is not placing much emphasis on this factor.
He said, “For me, I don’t look much into that (T20 rankings), it is about how we play our cricket and how we want to play our cricket going forward in the future. One thing about South Africa is that, yea, they are ahead of us and they are confident, with some of the guys coming from the Test series.”
With the West Indies’ triumph against Sri Lanka in the last T20I series, Pollard added, his team would be looking to improve its performance from that last series.
He said the team has been having conversations about what to expect from Shimron Hetmyer, and the team is aware of the goals he is aiming to achieve.
“We are always willing and ready to help him from that aspect; so, as I said before, as an individual, in anything that you do, you need to want it more than anything else. Conversations have been good, it’s just a matter of getting opportunities and him coming out and showing what he is made of,” Pollard disclosed.
This white-ball captain, who slammed six sixes in an over in his last T20I series, has said the biggest strength of the West Indies team is its power-hitting. He told media operatives that team members are looking to improve on these strengths and work on their weaknesses.
Speaking on the availability of Sunil Narine, Pollard said Narine had indicated to the selectors that he might have been available after the Indian Premier League (IPL).
“I am guessing that he might not have gotten the necessary preparation and confidence in his action. I think he indicated that he is still not ready,” Pollard noted.
While many are of the view that the West Indies have taken a backward step in including senior players Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo and Fidel Edwards in the team, Pollard has said that is not a concern to the team.
“We hear the noise, but then looking at it from a logical perspective, if we go with youngsters alone, there will still be noise. No matter what you do, there will be noise,” Pollard explained.
While not placing extra importance on specific individuals, the big Trinidadian has said Guyana’s Kevin Sinclair has been gelling well with the team, and has been gaining experience.
“It’s just a matter for him to grow as an individual,” Pollard has said.
The last time Andre Russell, Chris Gayle and Dwayne Bravo played together on the same team was back in 2015, when West Indies chased down a record 232 against South Africa. This series will be a reunion for “the big boys”.