FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida, CMC – Reigning world champions West Indies will seek to arrest a worrying trend when they clash with powerhouses India in the opening Twenty20 International of a three-match series here today.
The Caribbean side have lost 13 of their last 17 outings over the last 18 months, a run of form that has seen them plunge to number nine in the international rankings, in the run up to the defence of their title at the World Cup in Australia next year.
When they toured India for a three-match series last November, they suffered a heavy drubbing in a humbling whitewash and will hope for better fortunes in the doubleheader here this weekend at the Central Broward County Stadium.
However, skipper Carlos Brathwaite said there was no real “magic formula” which would turn the Windies form around but pointed to the importance of team unity as key to any upward trend in performances.
“I don’t think it is a magic formula to be fair,” he told reporters here yesterday.
Uncapped wicketkeeper Anthony Bramble goes through his paces in training ahead of Saturday’s opening Twenty20 International.
“I think it is the guys spending a lot more time together. A lot of the time we come and we shack up two days before and then we go out there and play, and the fact we get so close in games in the past is just a testament to the talent and the hard work and lots of times, the experience the boys would have had playing a lot of franchise cricket where that can be sometimes commonplace – getting together a week before a franchise tournament.
“So I don’t think there is a magic formula [that is required]. We can look back on it and say it’s a negative that we’re so low in the standings and obviously for the people of the Caribbean we would like that to be higher. We would like for them to be able to go to work and brag and talk about the national team doing the things we should.
“We can look at it as a positive, look at the number of guys that have been exposed. Come World Cup time if we win the World Cup, I’m sure that would give the people of the Caribbean some bragging rights as well.”
West Indies enter the series slightly under strength, without the likes of veteran opener Chris Gayle who is busy plying his trade in the Global T20 Canada and dynamic all-rounder Andre Russell, who pulled out of the squad on Friday after suffering a flare up of his chronic knee injury.
Both players are genuine match-winners and leave a void in a West Indies side now heavy on inexperience. The left-handed batting trio of Shimron Hetmyer, Nicholas Pooran and John Campbell, along with all-rounder Keemo Paul, and speedsters Oshane Thomas and Sheldon Cottrell, are all exciting prospects but have all played less than 15 T20 Internationals each.
Guyanese wicketkeeper/batsman Anthony Bramble is the lone uncapped player in the 14-man squad.
Brathwaite defended the squad, however, pointing out it was the best available at the current time, and contending it afforded young players important opportunities.
“I think it’s the best team at our disposal. The way I look at it … if we play 15 players between now and every series leading up to the Twenty20 [World Cup] and two or three of them get injured, then we have three new players in the squad,” Brathwaite argued.
“So every squad that we select is the best squad, whether is the best squad in terms of personnel is up for debate and I guess it’s shared opinion.
“But we have to look at it as the best leading up to the World Cup, putting the best pool of players together and spreading the net as wide as possible so that when we do select that final 15 for the World Cup, that we run enough players through certain roles and that we’re confident enough that they can perform whatever role is asked of them.”
SQUADS:
WEST INDIES – Carlos Brathwaite (captain), John Campbell, Evin Lewis, Shimron Hetmyer, Nicholas Pooran, Kieron Pollard, Rovman Powell, Keemo Paul, Sunil Narine, Sheldon Cottrell, Oshane Thomas, Anthony Bramble, Jason Mohammed, Khary Pierre.
INDIA – Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant, Krunal Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Rahul Chahar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed, Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini.