DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, CMC – Captain of the West Indies T20 team Carlos Brathwaite wants new recruits Nicholas Pooran and Rovman Powell to play their normal game during their series against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates.
Powell, a 23 year old batsman from Jamaica and Pooran a 20 year old wicketkeeper batsman from Trinidad and Tobago, were drafted into the regional T20 setup after excelling in the 2016 edition of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL).
West Indies arrived here Thursday for their three-match Twenty20 International series against Pakistan, starting next week Friday.
“Go there, express yourselves, continue to be exciting and eventually win games for the West Indies,” Brathwaite told the players.
“It’s a big task to represent the West Indies, and away from home is probably a little easier because you don’t have family in the stands with that extra pressure”.
Powell scored 228 runs in 13 matches for Tallawahs in this year’s CPL.
Pooran, who played for the Barbados Tridents, scored 217 runs in 10 matches at 27.12 and a strike rate of 197.27 and was also responsible for eight dismissals behind the stumps.
“You’re just surrounded by your team-mates and it’s a good team to be in at the moment,” said Brathwaite.
“So it’s just about going there and continuing to do the things that they did to get themselves here and do it for longer periods – it’s a higher stage, more pressure, but I’m sure they can continue with it and do well.”
West Indies start the series as favourites, after beating power house India one-nil in a two match series in United States last month and especially after reclaiming the T20 World Cup six months ago.
The players were involved in a light gym and pool session on Thursday and were scheduled to have their first full training session at the ICC Academy yesterday.
“The selectors were very big in ensuring that some young players are blooded and rubbed shoulders with some of the best T20 players in the world so we can continue our legacy of being dominant in this format, and those were two of the guys who fit the bill at this point in time,” he added.
The T20Is between West Indies and Pakistan will be followed by a three-match ODI series and a three- Tests series.
