West Indies head coach, Phil Simmons is searching for major players to put their hands up as they prepare to face hosts, Pakistan shortly.
The head coach gave this feedback yesterday during the first press conference of the tour of Pakistan.
“You’re looking to see who is going to put their hands up to be a major player in this team,” said Simmons.
Simmons was reluctant to dwell on the horrendous T20 World Cup performance by the team earlier this year but rather stated that the side will be looking to go forward with players who want to improve on both attitude and performance.
“We know what happened in the World Cup and we are not going to go back there. We are looking to move forward and we are looking to see who now wants to move forward with different ideas and how things are going to change within the squad not just from a cricketing point of view but an attitude point of view also,” he said.
Simmons explained that it was paramount that the players understand that management understands they can deliver but it is about delivering under pressure and doing what is necessary for West Indies to win.
He said, “We have an idea of what they can deliver but they will have to go out there now and show us they can deliver under pressure which playing against Pakistan is as special as you can get.”
The former all-rounder admitted that West Indies have struggled in the batting department for a long time but stood behind his management unit for their efforts which he said was not being transferred on the field.
Several key players are visibly missing from the World Cup side including Kieron Pollard, Andre Russell, Ravi Rampaul, Jason Holder, Andre Fletcher and Chris Gayle which paves the way for Dominic Drakes, Shai Hope, Brandon King, Gudakesh Motie, Kyle Mayers, Romario Shepherd and Odean Smith.
The 50-over version also sees several changes with Shamarh Brooks, Justin Greaves, Anderson Phillip, Motie, Raymon Reifer, Smith and Devon Thomas included.
West Indies will face Pakistan in three T20Is and three One Day Internationals beginning Monday.
