“We can put them on the backfoot ” Kieron Pollard believes his team is still capable of challenging the Indian side

The first T20 match of the three-match series between the West Indies and India is scheduled to start on the 16th, The second match will be played on February 18 and the third on February 20 at Eden Gardens, Kolkata

West Indies were blanked 0-3 in the ODI series and Pollard hoped his team would make amends in the T20I series. Pollard laid out another challenge for his team.

“Guys who have not been here before would have got some experience of the conditions coming up against a well drilled Indian team. For us it’s about improving all the time. We can definitely improve on that,” he said.

Pollard said they would take confidence from their thrilling 3-2 win over England at home in their last T20I series.

“On the batting front, over a period of time, we haven’t been consistent at all. We want to be able to put that right in the shorter format. It’s about us executing with the best of our abilities. 

For us it’s about consistency. We had a very good series against England. We faltered a couple of times in the back end of the innings. But we showed that there’s something inside these guys and there’s a belief to do well,” he said.

“We are very confident. We have been able to come out on top against England, it will give us that extra confidence against India.

“The guys would be looking forward to score runs on these sort of surfaces where it’s conducive for strokemaking. We are looking forward to it and the guys are quietly confident.”

Pollard had missed the last two ODIs with a troubled knee but the skipper said he’s raring to go for the T20I series.

“Things have improved for me. It was one of the knees . and the rigours of the 50-over game was very very difficult. As we stand right now all of us are available for selection,” he said.

Giving his take on the wicket, Pollard said: “It looks a very good cricketing wicket. Obviously, there’s something in it for the bowlers. There’s still some chill in the air and with dew around the ball it should be able to slide onto the bat.”

He, however, did not seem too concerned about the dew.

“The dew will be for both the teams so we will see what happens and who can tackle the dew well.”

Pollard stressed that despite the setback in the ODI series, his team is still capable of challenging the Indian side.

he pointed out. “You can’t live four days back, you have to look into the present. We have to focus on what we need to do. So for that, we have to come out with some plans and hopefully, we could execute those plans. Hopefully, we can put them on the backfoot when they are batting or put them under some pressure when they are bowling.”

 

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