BENGALURU, India, CMC – West Indies A-Team limited-overs captain Kieran Powell said the players on his side were looking to prove themselves against tough opponents when they tackle India-A in three One-day (50 overs) matches followed by a Twenty20 contest this coming week.
The first One-day match will be played today at the Chinnaswamy Stadium and the Indian side has been boosted with players the calibre of Yuvraj Singh and Yusuf Pathan.
“This is a very important series for all the players on this A-Team because some of the players are looking to break into the senior West Indies side and some are looking to get back into that squad following injury or loss of form,” Powell told WICB Media yesterday.
“India have chosen some strong squads for this series, so if you get runs or wickets against them, it would say a lot for a player, as an individual,” said Powell.
“This will be a great challenge for us. We have a number of players that have played senior international matches, so the pressure will not be anything new for our players.
“We only have a few players that have never played international matches and we will need to marshall them through this experience and what will be expected of them – but they must try to enjoy it and once they play to the best of their ability, we should be competitive and successful.”
The One-day series concludes with matches this coming Tuesday and Thursday at the same venue, where the two teams also square off in a Twenty20 match this coming Saturday.
There is an added incentive for the players on both sides with their senior sides due to face-off in November in India.
Powell said winning the A-Team series would be the ultimate measure of success, but felt there were other goals for the players on his side to accomplish during this series.
“It’s not for the guys to pressure themselves and think about the senior team coming here, but it’s to relax and let the performances flow and let everything else take care of itself,” he said.
“We want to win the series, but we also want to measure success by the guys learning about how to play in different conditions and taking this experience to improve themselves and their games and taking it back home to help other players improve themselves.
“This is also very important, even if we do not get the runs and the wickets, it is vital that we learn and keep enhancing our skills.”
Powell has had very limited captaincy experience at the senior level, but he is relishing testing his leadership skills on this trip before handing the reins over to Kirk Edwards for the three (four-day) “Tests”.
He is also one of the players fighting to regain a place in the senior side after injury sidelined him for the ICC Champions Trophy, Celkon Mobile Cup Series and Pakistan tour of the Caribbean.
“I’m looking forward to this new role as captain and working with all of the guys, especially the senior players, in helping me to get the job done,” he said.
“I also want to spend plenty of time in the middle batting, and I know once I do this the runs will come.”
Limited-overs squad
Kieran Powell (Captain), Veerasammy Permaul (Vice Captain), Ronsford Beaton, Nkrumah Bonner, Jonathan Carter, Sheldon Cottrell, Miguel Cummins, Narsingh Deonarine, Kirk Edwards, Andre Fletcher, Leon Johnson, Nikita Miller, Ashley Nurse, Andre Russell, Devon Thomas
Team management unit
Junior Bennett (Head Coach), Stuart Williams (Assistant Coach), Lockhart Sebastien (Manager), David Bernard Sr (Fitness & Conditioning Coordinator), Beverley Nelson (Physiotherapist), Dexter Augustus (Video Analyst).
