Chennai: West Indies captain Kieron Pollard on Saturday said his team is “on a mission” to do better in the one-dayers but insisted that favourable results may not come immediately.
The Caribbeans take on a formidable India in a three-match contest beginning here on Sunday, and Pollard said his side would look to carry on the momentum of the 3-0 series win over Afghanistan last month.
“We are on a mission and have a clear plan of how to approach 50-over cricket. There is a process and it is something we are actually going through. The results might not show straightaway. We had a good series against Afghanistan. Now, we are coming up against a better side in India,” Pollard said ahead of the first ODI here.
“It’s a matter of what we need to do going forward. There are things internally which we are working on. Success will not come overnight. Winning is always good. Sometimes, you play well but the result would not go your way. The Afghanistan series was good and we want to continue in that track. That’s is the ultimate goal,” he added.
Asked how his team plans to go about handling the middle overs in ODIs, he said it has been discussed and the players were aware of their roles and responsibilities. “We have discussed how we want to go about playing middle overs, be it batting and bowling and how we want to play this format. Obviously, we can’t reveal what our plans are going to be. The guys are aware of their roles and responsibilities, now it’s about executing them,” the captain said.
Pollard said the inclusion of Roston Chase in the ODI side brought a good balance to the team. “He (Roston) brings a good balance to our team. He is a great asset, he is someone who bats in the middle order in Tests and has centuries too. He can bowl as well. With him in the side, it gives us an opportunity to field another specialist player. He has been very valuable for us. He is sort of a left-field selection, but I think that has worked for us. He will play a key part going forward,” the skipper added.
Pollard said there was potential in Caribbean cricket that could be harnessed and the players were putting in the hard work required to succeed at the highest level. “It is about preparation. You will have to realise the potential you have. The guys who are successful eat and sleep cricket. People who want to be great in the future will have to emulate them. For the younger guys in the team, it’s about changing your training habits and looking at what you want to achieve,” he said.
He was responding to a question regarding what bowling coach Roddy Estwick said on Friday suggesting that the younger players like Shimron Hetmyer and Nicholas Pooran have in Indian captain Virat Kohli somebody to look up to. “I am not saying our guys have not done that. Sometimes, the results just don’t reflect. This is something we have spoken about and we are really excited with the bunch of players we have now. These are players who are putting in the hard work behind the scenes. The results will show, but we must have patience. They are actually doing what is required to succeed at this level,” Pollard said.
On veteran Dwayne Bravo’s decision to come out of T20 Internationals retirement, Pollard said, “I am happy as a captain to know that we have a player of Bravo’s calibre available for selection.”