ICC Men’s T20 World Cup
On a rainy day, which put paid to the West Indies scheduled training session at the Providence National Stadium yesterday, skipper of the two-time ICC Men’s T20 World Cup winner, Rovman Powell, said that his side is confident heading into their world cup campaign on home soil.
Speaking at the customary pre-match press conference ahead of today’s match against two-time World Cup participants, Papua New Guinea, Powell revealed that the cumulative series’ wins in the buildup to the championship have instilled confidence in his side.
“I think preparation over the last few months has been good. We take pride in the series wins leading up to the World Cup. Those wins gave us confidence,” an upbeat Powell stated.
confident ahead of today’s
match against Papua New
Guinea, which signals the start of the host’s World Cup campaign
Quizzed on the influence that Head Coach Daren Sammy, a two-time World Cup winner as a player with the West Indies, exerts over the group. Powell pointed out that Sammy’s “experience and knowledge” have spread across the group, which in turn is a big helping factor.
Acknowledging the team’s rise from being ranked ninth in the world to currently being fourth, Powell noted that it bodes well.
“It’s very good for the West Indies to be ranked fourth; when we started (Powell’s appointment as captain), we were eighth or ninth. One of my first mandates was to start winning series.”
“I am proud to see, under my captaincy, that we have made strides,” he pointed out.
While the weather in recent weeks has been less than ideal for cricket here in Guyana, Powell remains optimistic that the game today will come off despite the forecasted thunderstorms.
“It is very important, any World Cup, you want to start off on a winning note, and hopefully tomorrow [today] the rain stays away and we have close to a perfect game.”
On the other hand, Papua New Guinea’s skipper, Assad Vala, told the media that their extended stay for the last couple of weeks has boded well, as the preparations have been good.
“We have been in the Caribbean for a few weeks, and it has helped us to adapt.”
“We are looking forward to our match against one of the powerhouses in the West Indies”, he said.
Looking ahead to their second ever World Cup campaign, Valla revealed that it “means a lot to be playing among the best 20 teams in the world, and we want to play the best cricket we can and play the brand of cricket we know that we can play.”
The World Cup, which got underway last evening with co-hosts USA facing neighbours Canada in the US, will bowl off in the Caribbean at the Providence National Stadium from 10:30am barring bad weather.
The West Indies squad reads: West Indies: Rovman Powell (c), Alzarri Joseph, Johnson Charles, Roston Chase, Shimron Hetmyer, Oshane Thomas, Shai Hope, Akeal Hosein, Shamar Joseph, Brandon King, Gudakesh Motie, Nicholas Pooran, Andre Russell, Sherfane Rutherford, and Romario Shepherd
