NEW DELHI, India, CMC – West Indies captain Kieron Pollard has conceded that his side will be underdogs in the upcoming white-ball series against powerhouses India but says “anything is possible” once they execute properly.
The Caribbean side face the Indians in a three-match Twenty20 series starting Friday in Hyderabad before turning their attention to a three-match One-Day International series set to bowl off December 15 in Chennai.
With West Indies languishing 10th in the T20 rankings and ninth in ODIs, India are already the heavy favourites, a point which Pollard was quick to acknowledge.
“’We are coming up against a harder opposition … we are going to be underdogs and we are the underdogs and that’s fine but then again it is about going out there and executing and believing in yourself and believing in your talent. Once you have that belief, anything is possible,’ Pollard was quoted as saying.
“There are boxes which needs to be ticked off, basics. When you do that most times, sometimes you end up on the right side of the result so let’s see how it goes. I’m very excited and looking forward to that series.”
West Indies had mixed results in the limited overs series against Afghanistan last month, sweeping the ODIs but then losing the T20s, after winning the opening fixture of the three-match rubber.
India, with their array of limited overs stars, are expected to provide much tougher opposition. Significantly, West Indies have not beaten them in a one-day series in 13 years and have suffered whitewashes in the their last two T20 series. Pollard said it was important West Indies built on the positive work ethic employed against Afghanistan.
“You must commend the guys on how they worked in the little period of time for when he got together for [the Afghanistan series],” he pointed out.
“It was incredible and it augurs well for us as we go into the future where we have to set a benchmark in terms of preparation.
“It is something that has been mentioned but success is boring because you have to do the same thing over and over again to be consistent and this is something the guys are willing to work on and it’s something we as management are looking to push as well so that was good but we’re looking to get better.”
Put in charge of a relatively inexperienced squad, Pollard said instilling a winning mentality was crucial.
“The will to win is what makes you as an individual sometimes be successful because then you want to pass on that knowledge than you have learnt … and try to educate them (younger players),” he stressed.
