West Indies coach Phil Simmons has said his side are ready for a backlash from India, where they won the T20 World Cup earlier this year but added the hosts are eager to execute their own plans during the matches. India play the first match in Lauderhill on Saturday and then come back at the same venue on Sunday for the second game.
The last time these two outfits locked horns in a T20 contest was at the T20 World Cup semi-final at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai where West Indies hunted down a challenging 193 to grab a win in the final over.
“We prepare for the two days here the same way we would have prepared before. It’s just that India’s team has been together for longer. We have a way of preparing and we’ll do that over the next two days,”Simmons was quoted by CMC.“We’re trying to prepare as best as we can. The thing about it is that India will be coming looking for revenge for the semi-final loss and we’ve got to make sure we’re ready for whatever they bring.”
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He added: “As in Mumbai, there’s more motivation just to beat India because I think that’s always going to be the team in the world to beat in T20 cricket because they’ve commanded the format for a long period so winning against India is always going to be high on the agenda.”West Indies have called back almost all their top players in the format like opener Chris Gayle, off-spinner Sunil Narine and all-rounders Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard and Andre Russell to play in the two match series and Simmons believes a full strength squad makes things easy.
“It’s always good to have the senior guys back and they make things easy for me because it’s a case where they do all the work, as they know about this format inside out so it gives me a chance to just enjoy them freeing up themselves out there,” he said.
He added: “In this context it’s a case where we are World champions and it (T20s) is something we have sort of made our own, it is similar to back in the 80s when we had made Test cricket our own. We always have been the team to beat in T20 cricket so from that point of view … it’s good to know that all players are loving playing it but it’s also a stepping stone to one-day cricket also.”
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