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West Indies coach Phil Simmons' simple yet difficult requests for his batters ahead India ODIs
West Indies have played out 50 overs just six times in 39 innings since the 2019 World Cup. While most teams thrive at the opportunity of playing in home conditions, West Indies have been struggling big time, losing seven out of their eight ODIs at home this year.
Ahead of the three-match ODI series against India starting July 22, West Indies coach Phil Simmons has some simple requests for the Nicholas Pooran-led side - Bat 50 overs and score hundreds. As simple as it may sound, it's not an easy thing to consistently as West Indies have found out in recent times. West Indies have played out 50 overs just six times in 39 innings since the 2019 World Cup. While most teams thrive at the opportunity of playing in home conditions, West Indies have been struggling big time, losing seven out of their eight ODIs at home this year.
"The main thing is how we bat our 50 overs…we have to bat 50 overs and put our innings together and partnerships together," Simmons told reporters in the pre-series press conference. Somebody has to be looking to score a hundred and hold the team together. Batting-wise that is it," he added.
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Simmons, who has been the head coach of the West Indies side since 2019, also said that he is hopeful of "friendly" surfaces that will benefit his side more "than the opposition" team.
"The better wickets we get, the better it will be for our batters and bowlers. The conversation is currently on with the concerned individuals, as always," he said. Simmons, however, does not seem to be too worried about his fielding and bowling departments.
"The bowling and the fielding has been improving daily. We rank ourselves very highly on the fielding," Simmons said.
"The bowling, we had a couple of games on those wickets where, yes, people might say we should have gotten more wickets but the wicket got better every time we fielded because they had put out the second roller on it and it had dried out from earlier in the day.
"So, the bowlers have been doing well and we have to continue restricting and getting wickets - that's the only way we can keep totals low and continue to win games," he added.
West Indies will play three ODIs followed by five T20Is against India. Shikhar Dhawan is leading the ODI outfit minus big stars like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Jasprit Bumrah, KL Rahul, Bhuvneshwar Kumara and Hardik Pandya. Apart from Kohli and Bumrah, all others will return to the Indian squad for the T20I series starting on July 29.
(with PTI inputs)
