West Indies need to bat properly as India tour looms – says Captain Nicholas Pooran

…Estwick not blaming pitch

By Brandon Corlette

The West Indies have experienced two dismal batting failures in the One Day International Series against Bangladesh, played at Providence, EBD, and would need to fix their batting issues, as India will be coming to the Caribbean to play three One Day International matches and five T20Is from July 22.

Those encounters would be played in Trinidad and Tobago, St Kitts and Nevis, and in Florida respectively.
According to Nicholas Pooran, the West Indies captain who was dismissed for a golden duck while attempting to reverse sweep: “Tough, tough day; I don’t want to talk about it. We didn’t show up as a batting group. For sure, we need to talk about how we gonna play ODI cricket, especially as a batting group, and figure it out soon. The wicket gets better as long as the innings goes ahead, and we weren’t able to score over 200.
“It’s a challenge batting, especially after losing the toss. We spoke yesterday (about) the ways to score. You saw the guys sweep and reverse today, but it didn’t come out. At the moment, we are still figuring it out. We are a young group, we are gonna stick together and try our best.”
The young West Indies captain added: “on India and New Zealand touring, we definitely need to bat properly. 100%, and put something respectable (as a) total on board; and again, it’s a young team, we are playing together. The more games we play, the more we understand how to go about it. And again, stick together and try to bat second. Toss plays a big factor at the moment, whoever wins the toss wins 75% of the games in the Caribbean; and we can’t make excuses, it’s about accepting the challenges and come out (and) keep fighting.”
After slipping to Bangladesh, and recording 10 defeats in as many matches, West Indies Assistant Coach Roddy Estwick has said it is critical for the West Indies to urgently come up with solutions to the problems plaguing their ODI performances.
After mustering a paltry 108 off 35 overs, their second lowest-ever total in an ODI at home, Bangladesh hammered West Indies mercilessly to win by nine wickets. It seems as though Providence is not a happy hunting ground for West Indies in ODI cricket, since they have recorded their lowest total in ODI cricket at home at this same venue, an embarrassing 98 against Pakistan back in 2013.
Despite the tricky nature of the pitches, Estwick refuses to use conditions as an excuse for West Indies’ poor performances. “I don’t want to be too critical, because people will say, ‘You’ve lost!’ and, ‘Bangladesh have batted on them’,” Estwick noted. “I thought this one (pitch) was a bit better than the (one used in the) first match. I thought the (pitch in the) first match had a lot of moisture.
“But you’ve got to understand that there’s been a lot of rain around Georgetown, and grounds-men can’t put in as much work as they would like; so, you don’t want to be too critical.
“Bangladesh have won the toss, and they’ve put us in (to bat) both times. Normally, Bangladesh like to try and set a score and put you under pressure, but they’ve gone away from that because of the surface. But like I said, there’s been a lot of rain, and the pitches are under covers for most of the time, and it’s going to be very difficult, once you bat first, to get any sort of momentum,” Estwick explained.
“The key thing is not to allow the confidence to drain out of the group. We’ve got to find a way to lift people. We’ve got to find a way to have open discussions, and come up with solutions that will move us forward. We’re still planning for the 2023 [World Cup]. We know the areas we’re falling down in. We know that teams are going to come and bowl a lot of spin against us, and we’ve got to find ways to make sure we get better at rotating the strike and different things like that,” he further said.
The toss has played a key role in both matches. Bangladesh called correctly on both occasions, and opted to bowl. The Guyana National Stadium pitches had plenty of moisture due to recent heavy rainfall here. However, Coach Estwick opined that West Indies batsmen had failed to adapt, and he pointed to all-rounder Keemo Paul who top-scored with an unbeaten 25 on Wednesday as the template for batting in the conditions that prevailed.
“We didn’t adjust to the conditions. We obviously struggled to get any kind of momentum,” Estwick pointed out. “It’s finding a way that’s going to be very, very important for us going forward. We’ve still got one more game to play. We continue to learn, and I hope we can take some lessons away from it,” said Estwick.
The final ODI is set for Saturday July 16 at Providence from 9:30h.