Windies will have an arduous task against India in ODIs. Meanwhile, Phil Simmons feels the hosts need to bat the entire 50 overs against Shikhar Dhawan and co.
Windies is set to host India in twin limited-overs contests. The tour is underway with three One-Day Internationals (ODIs), starting Friday at the Queen's Park Oval in Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago. However, given the current contrasting difference in the form of the two sides, the visitors look like the outright favourited to win this series. While the Men in Blue are ranked third in the ICC ODI Rankings, the Windies are placed ninth in the table, seemingly making it a one-sided contest. Ahead of the same, Windies head coach Phil Simmons has warned his side to be at its best and demanded that it try to bat the entire 50 overs.
The Windies has struggled to bat for the entire 50 overs in the last two years, and Simmons said that is one of the aspects of the game his side would aim to improve in the three ODIs vs India. Notably, the Windies has batted out the 50 overs on just six instances in 39 innings since the 2019 ICC World Cup, and it has lost nine of their 13 ODI series since then.
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The Windies also faced a humiliating series loss to Ireland at home earlier this year. During the pre-series press conference, Simmons stated, "The main thing is how we bat our 50 overs. We have to bat 50 overs and put our innings together and partnerships together. Somebody has to be looking to score a hundred and hold the team together. Batting-wise that is it."
Simmons, the head coach of the Windies side since 2019, also declared that he is hopeful of "friendly" batting tracks that would allow his side to bat more freely "than the opposition" team. However, Simmons is ostensibly not worried about his side's fielding and bowling departments.
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"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. The bowling and the fielding have 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.
(With inputs from PTI)