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Skipper Dwayne Bravo focused on Pakistan series…‘Not reaching tri-nation final was disappointing’
By Sean Devers
West Indies ODI skipper Dwayne Bravo explained that conditions in Guyana played a part in the composition of the regional side to oppose Pakistan in the first two ODI matches, but admitted the new culture of trying to build the ODI team by giving players an extended run was also a reason why there was just a single change in the squad.
“Playing in Guyana is more on the slower side…more on the
Dwayne Bravo chats with one of the Digicel girls, while Chris Gayle, Darren Bravo and Lendl Simmons ensure their Digicel phones are working shortly after the West Indies team arrived in Guyana yesterday.
turning side… so conditions here influenced the selection of the team to some extent but most of the same team is here for the first two matches,” the 29-year-old Bravo informed.
Wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin was the lone causality from the Tri-nation series with the selectors opting not to pick an additional spinner or the in-form Narsingh Deonarine who could also provide a spin option.
“We basically want to keep the same squad together and that’s how we hope to build the ODI team. We want to give the players a good run and fair opportunity for as long as possible even if they might fail or not. That’s the type of culture we are trying to put into place now,” the all-rounder from Santa Cruz in Trinidad explained.
When asked if he or the WICB had requested a particular type of pitch at Providence, his response was “No, no, no! Obviously that is beyond our control. The ground staff here in Guyana is responsible for preparing the pitch. We have been busy in the last week with a tri-nation series but we know what to expect in Guyana, it’s nothing new,” Bravo said.
“We don’t know what the weather is like. We landed here and it is overcast but I am not sure what the weather was like over the past week or so. We know there is always rain when there is cricket in Guyana but we have to play in conditions we get. We have no input in the wicket,” Bravo, with 2,385 runs and 166 wickets from 142 ODIs, reiterated.
West Indies began with back-to-back victories against Sri Lanka and India in Jamaica but failed to reach the finals with a below par performance in Trinidad where they suffered defeats to the same two teams.
“Yes it (not reaching the finals) really affected us. I must be honest and say it was very disappointing to the team and myself as Captain to lead the guys to such a positive start and then not being able to finish the job by getting into the finals.
We can’t let the disappointment in not reaching the finals get us down too much. We have got to take the positives with the negatives and not make the same mistakes that stopped us from reaching the finals. This is a new series against a very good team, a new team, so we have got to pick ourselves up and play good, hard cricket,” Bravo noted.
Although West Indies beat Pakistan by 10 wickets in the last ODI to be played in Guyana two years ago, the visitors won the five-match series 3-2 after the home team suffered consecutive defeats in the first three matches in St Lucia.
Bravo was quick to point out that not because Pakistan were dismissed for 139 before Lendl Simmons and Kurt Edwards saw their team to an emphatic win with an unfinished first wicket century stand, means it will automatically happen again.
“Every series is always different every team’s approach is different. That victory was over a year ago and we can’t expect to bowl them out for 150 just because we did so the last time the teams met in Guyana. We don’t know what the final eleven will be, we don’t know what pitch and conditions we will get this time,” Bravo revealed.
“We have to do the basics right, batters make runs, bowlers take wickets. We had a very good practice session this week in Trinidad and then the guys had a couple of days off before travelling here so I am confident we will play good cricket,” the West Indies Captain concluded.
West Indies Squad: Dwayne Bravo (captain), Tino Best, Darren Bravo, Johnson Charles, Chris Gayle, Jason Holder, Sunil Narine, Kieron Pollard, Kemar Roach, Darren Sammy, Marlon Samuels, Lendl Simmons and Devon Smith.
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