As they endevour to put up a better performance in India, the West Indians team have been training in Mumbai and will play two practice games against India A before the ODI series. The side from the Caribbean will draw confidence from their comprehensive win against Bangladesh recently. They will also gain from the experience of their players who have been plying their skills in the Pepsi IPL and Oppo CLT20 especially in the limited overs game.
“We will have team meetings and have goals that we want to achieve and the practice games are an ideal opportunity for us to execute those goals and plans. The guys would go out there and try their best to play like we are playing in the international games recently. We want to win. That will give us confidence going into the actual series. It is important our batters spend as much time as possible out there in the middle. It is important that we have nice energy on the field. By doing all the basics right and having a clear idea of what we want to do going into the series that in itself is confidence,” Darren Bravo told the media persons.
The West Indies top-order batsman is ready to assume the responsibility of leading the line-up in the absence of Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul as well as Chris Gayle at the top of the order, “I consider myself as a senior batsman in the team. I am looking forward to the one-day series against India. We know it is going to be a tough series for us as a team. We are quietly confident that we will do well.”
Asked about the pressure to perform in the absence of the swashbuckling opener, he said, “No matter who is opening or batting in the middle order there is always pressure. At international level everyone wants to make a name for themselves. We just need to go out there and express ourselves and play the way we can.”
Speaking about his own wicket which the opposition is likely to target as crucial one, he stated: “Whenever you go out to bat you realise the way they set the fields and decide to bring on a particular bowler to get you, there is a particular reason why. You need to understand your strengths and weaknesses. That can put you in good stead.”
While he has been a key batsman in the line-up, Darren has not been able to convert his starts into big scores, speaking on the same he said, “That is something that has been bothering me for quite some time. In one –day cricket you tend to take a little more chances than in Test matches. So that’s something I need to improve on. As you said, if I get starts I give it away. That is something I need to get right and get it right as quickly as possible.”
Speaking about the team’s batting and whether it is strengthened with more allrounders in it he said, “I think all-round we are a very good team. We have the likes of Marlon Samuels back into the mix, the experienced players in Darren Sammy, Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard, guys who have been playing in the IPL for quite some time. We have a mixture of youth and experience and that’s going to give us a very good chance of performing well in India.”
Like some of his team-mates, Darren himself is familiar with the Indian bowling and although he has scored well against the hosts he believes that there is always scope for improvement in international cricket, “In the last couple of years I have played quite a lot against India. The Indian bowling lineup has been changing time and again; there are some new bowlers on the scene now. It’s very important that I look at the clips of their bowlers and try and understand the way they go about things and have a very clear idea what exactly it is that I want to do when I step on the field.”
Dismissed by Ravichandran Ashwin quite a few times in the past, the batsman said, “I know exactly where I went wrong. He is a very good bowler. At the same time I just need to continue backing myself. I have done well against him in previous games as well. I am not really worried about it. It is important that I get it right in this series.”
The Indian spin attack led by the off-spinner has been causing problems for opponents. Asked about the West Indies plans for tackling spin he said, “I am quietly confident that I am capable of performing well against India; I have done well in the last couple of series that we have played in India. But I am not taking anything for granted. Spin is going to be a big factor going into the series. But at the same time it all boils down to playing your natural game and give yourself the best opportunity get in and hopefully when you get a start you capitalise and try and perform to the best of your ability for the team.”
“At the end of the day we are here to win. Whatever it takes we will try our best to do that. We have to execute our game plan in the best possible way,” he said.
